Hart of Gold
by Ultrawoman
Summary: Modern Day AU. Isabelle Hart is the latest alias of a legendary grifter and theif. Her latest con involves bringing down ruthless business tycoon, Robert Gold, but this particular job was never her idea... Rumbelle
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: New story! I've had the idea for absolutely ages but I wasn't sure I could execute it well. Now it's time to find out! I have to say, not only is this heavily influenced by the awesome TV series **_**Leverage**_**, I don't think it ever would have come to be if not for two wonderful fanfics; **_**Tea With The Devil **_**by Hikari no Chibi, for inspiring me to write an AU like this, and **_**Can't Take The Sky**_** by Fyre (on AO3), for making me realise you can put the OUAT characters into another 'verse you love and make it work. Now, without further ado... **

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 1

After the black pillowcase was taken off her head, it took the poor woman a moment to regain her focus. The light was too bright and the bindings at her wrists were really starting to chafe, but she wasn't afraid. Too many things had happened in her life for a simple thing like kidnapping to cause fear and panic. This was a pretty average day, all told, except for the person sat before her being the last one she ever expected.

"Really? You had me abducted?" she asked with a look. "Why?"

"We meet again, Miss Hart," Regina Mills leaned back in her desk chair and smiled like a crocodile figuring out the best way to eat you. "That is your name these days, isn't it? Isabelle Hart?" she checked, leaning in a moment to grab her paperwork and flip through the pages.

"You know it is," Isabelle replied, trying to keep the venom out of her tone. "You know everything, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to get me back here."

Regina continued to grin, even though she was riled. She didn't really want this young woman here anymore than the so-called Isabelle Hart wanted to have been brought. The fact was, she needed her. She was the only woman capable of taking on the job she had in mind, and so they must form an alliance of a kind. The fact the deal was being struck with one of them in restraints probably wouldn't seem to bode well to any outsider, but then most did not understand the world they operated in.

From the outside, Regina Mills was seen as the completely capable, ball-breaking businesswoman who had built Regal Corp up from mediocre status to an incredibly successful conglomerate since her husband's death. That was a tiny piece of a much larger, darker, and nastier puzzle, that Isabelle knew more details of than she really wished to. Fortunately, the world at large saw her as whatever she chose to be, and there were but a handful of people alive that knew her real name. That was how it had to be when you were one of the greatest grifters and thieves the world had ever seen.

"Come along, Miss Hart... or may I call you Isabelle?" asked Regina as if she were the most reasonable woman in the world. "Perhaps you prefer one of your other aliases. Frances Booker? Bella White? Jolie Walton?" she tried from the list before her. "Tell me, do you even remember your real name anymore?"

It was a ridiculous question. As if any person, no matter how many personas they spun themselves into, could ever forget who they truly were. Belinda French. It was the one name guaranteed not to be on the list Regina held in her finely manicured hands. Even her closest friends never used it, preferring simply to call her Belle, the name her father had used for her since she was so small she barely recalled it herself.

"One would hope you didn't bring me here just to discuss my name," she replied, trying to make herself look comfortable and relaxed, even with her wrists bound together and ankles lashed to the chair legs.

"Indeed," Regina replied, her smile slipping into a scowl. "As we both know, you ought to be the last person I want to do business with, but on this occasion I really have no choice," she explained, dismissing the two over-sized men that had been flanking the door this whole time.

Something so big and so secretive even Regina's dearest minions were not allowed to know about it? Now Belle really was intrigued! Of course, she ought to have known how major this deal had to be for the very fact she was a part of it. Just a year ago now, Belle had been involved in a battle against this woman, a string of cons that had ensured Regina lost her adopted son Henry back to the boy's birth mother. There was not even a tiny part of the grifter that felt sorry for this woman, even after what she had done. After all, Regina was the bad guy here, and Emma Swann had been desperate for help. Belle and her old team, that was what they did, used their skills to help those who could not help themselves, who the authorities had no time for or could not legally get justice for. That team had broken up after that very job, the one that resulted in a happy reunion between birth mother and son, and one very pissed off Regina Mills.

"Come on, Regina. Don't be shy," said Belle, deliberately poking the bear just to prove she could. "If there's something you want from me..."

"Believe me when I tell you, I wish I didn't," the businesswoman replied succinctly, punctuating her sentence with the resonating thump of the desk drawer closing.

A folder landed in front of Belle and was swiftly opened to reveal a page full of details on one side and a photograph on the other. Belle knew the name as well as anyone, but the face was a surprise. So this was what the reclusive man of business they called Robert Gold looked like. He really wasn't at all what Belle had been expecting, if she had expected anything at all. What she really wanted to know now was why she was looking at him. The question must've been written on her face when she glanced up at Regina then and saw her slowly smile.

"This is the man I need you to deal with," she explained, with a look akin to a snake - Belle never flinched.

"Deal with how exactly?" she asked curiously instead.

The phrase could be taken in all manner of ways. For all that she was, Belle didn't kill people, but she did do almost everything else. Relieving them of their money was her speciality, but she had other tricks up her sleeve too...

"In short, I want him destroyed," said Regina simply, leaning back in her seat with her hands folded neatly in her lap. "You think I'm a devious, manipulator of business, Ms Hart? You never met Gold. He invented the kind of games I excel at, and he cheats at every single one."

Belle wouldn't usually take anything out of Regina's mouth to be the truth but she knew the stories about Gold. He had a reputation as black as night, and though she had never directly crossed him before, she had dealt with several of his connections. His was the one name they feared. Even the most despicable of wretches she had put down quaked at the thought of getting on his bad side. For Belle to bring him down alone, without preparation of any kind, it would be impossible. Well, maybe not impossible, but certainly not as easy as Regina seemed to think.

"Setting up a long con on this guy could take months, maybe years, especially if he's smart as he seems," she explained with a shake of her head. "I don't have much research on him, or a plan..."

"That's taken care of," Regina cut in, producing further reading on the elusive Mr Gold. "The research is done, everything that can be found, and yet there is no actual solid proof that'll help me see him cut down legally," she explained with frustration evident in her tone and looks. "He excels at contracts and deals. His paperwork is perfect, at least everything I can get to," she explained. "That's where you come in," she smiled slyly once more.

Belle didn't really know what to think. She had no wish at all to say she couldn't complete this job. Whatever Regina had in mind, it was doubtless going to push her skills to their limits. Still, a true test of ones talents was to go up against the best there was and win. Gold certainly was the best, even Regina had to admit it.

"You want to ship me off to Scotland?" she asked then, eyes roaming over the information available to her without the need to turn pages, after all, her wrists were still bound to the chair yet.

"No, and that is the beauty of the timing in this plan," explained Regina with a look. "Though Gold has always conducted his business affairs from his ancestral home back in good old bonnie Scotland, he has finally decided to make a second home here in the States," she went on, turning pages over until Belle could see the proof of it. "With the economy the way it is, apparently things here are bad enough he doesn't trust his lackeys to handle things anymore," she went on, though Belle stopped listening so much as she was given the chance to read.

Gold had an empire and ruled over it from afar up to now, just visiting America at semi-regular intervals. Lately, the man that all but ran things over here had proved to be a problem, in that he had up and killed himself. Gold would not trust another to take his place and so had bought a home here in New York and had brought himself over to run things himself, at least for now.

Belle couldn't question the perfect timing Regina spoke of. This was home turf for the grifter and thief, despite her original origins being far away around the globe. What mattered was that Gold was close by and trying to run a business, trusting next to no-one. Belle could use that, she could ingratiate herself into his business, prove herself useful, and later indispensable. Without Regina ever explaining the details she had planned, Belle already had an idea in her head of how this all might play out.

"So, you think you can do it?" the businesswomen was suddenly asking and the grifter belatedly realised she had not been listening at all, quite hypnotised by the documents and photographs before her.

"I never came up against a job I couldn't complete," she replied generically. "I also never had someone else set up my work for me like this," she said, with a pointed struggle against her bonds.

Regina's eyes narrowed. She seemed to almost be reconsidering her whole plan right now and Belle could read every step of her thinking through her expressive dark eyes. She wanted this done, this man brought down in every way possible. Not just his business crippled, but the man himself thoroughly destroyed. Of course, she was also wondering if her evil plan should really be put in the hands of a woman she really couldn't entirely trust.

"You went to all this trouble to bring me here," said Belle then. "You know there's no-one better for the task, so why the sudden doubts?" she asked, even though she already knew the reason before Regina ever spoke it.

The fact was, she wasn't entirely sure why she was suddenly fighting so hard to be given this job. It would be that much easier to wriggle out of it. Belle had no wish whatsoever to work for Regina, the very type of person she fought against in her day to day works. Still, Gold was supposed to be that much worse, and giving up an opportunity to destroy him would be pure insanity.

"I can't trust you," she said succinctly. "At least, I wouldn't be able to, if I didn't have some... insurance," Regina smiled slowly then.

The next folder to land on the table before Belle was red in colour, and the photograph clipped to the front made her heart skip. She audibly gasped before she had a chance to check herself, letting Regina know she had won this battle if not the war.

"I'll do whatever you want," said Belle, trying to keep the shake out of her voice but failing miserably.

"Oh, I know you will," her adversary grinned akin to a crocodile. "And when this is over, I will rule not only this town, but the entire market," she told a slightly quaking Belle. "Gold won't know what hit him."

_To Be Continued..._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hope this story gains some more readers/fans as our heroine meets our hero ;)**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 2

Belle stood before the foreboding looking edifice and glanced up. Fifty floor buildings should not be so impressive in any normal circumstance, but then they were not often inhabited solely by the employees of one empire. Here was the headquarters of Gold Industries, run by its namesake, the incorrigible Robert Gold, with whom Belle must now acquaint herself.

This whole plan didn't exactly sit well with her. It wasn't that she had any particular qualms about taking down a man like Gold. On the contrary, her work for years now had been of this type, seeing to it that men and women of business and status were taught a lesson about abusing their influence and power. She took away their ill-gotten gains and handed them over to those much more deserving. Some landed in jail, others simply in financial ruin or public disgrace. For Gold, she could foresee any or all of the above being the outcome.

What rankled with Belle about this entire situation was that she had not decided to put herself in it. Regina Mills had seen to it that her hands were tied, that she must complete the task set, or others would suffer the consequences, others that she held so very dear. Yes, Belle was up to the job, but no, she did not appreciate that she must complete it for someone as odious and despicable as the head of Regal Corp. She looked at Regina and Gold as two of a kind, and would rather see an end to both their empires than just one for another. Perhaps that could yet be arranged, Belle smiled to herself, the first time today she had a thought that really pleased her. No plan was set in stone unless she let it be, after all.

Taking a deep breath, Belle finally stepped into the revolving door that took her inside. A docile blonde at the main reception desk took her name, checking the computer, and agreeing that she was in fact due to start work today. The girl, bearing a name badge that read 'Ashley', made a quick internal call as Belle waited impatiently, finger nails tapping on the desk.

How she had managed to skip the interview process entirely was simple enough. Regina knew the right people, Belle herself knew the right things to say, and the correct methods of hacking and deception. She was the new girl in the upper office of Gold Industries before the previous holder of the job had hardly finished packing her desk.

"You can go up now," Ashley smiled some just as soon as she ended her call, gesturing towards the bank of elevators to the left.

"The fiftieth floor?" Belle checked, already sure the was correct.

She was quite surprised when Ashley laughed at her.

"Forty eighth," she corrected the new girl. "The top two floors are Mr Gold's private apartment."

"He lives up there?" said Belle, more to herself than anyone since Ashley had since become distracted by another call.

This wasn't what she had been told. Regina's information suggested Gold had bought a house in town when he made the move from Scotland. Belle hadn't memorised the address since she had no need to right now, but she did know nothing had been said about him living at the top of the company tower block. It was curious and eccentric, but not an entirely ridiculous idea. These rich businessmen could afford to do whatever they wanted, however strange it might seem to the so-called lesser beings.

Belle checked her watch and noted she had just five minutes to get up to the forty eighth floor if she was to be on time. She quickened her pace and caught the elevator just in time before the doors closed. Inside she found only three other people, two of which never even shifted their gaze as she slipped in beside them. The third was more curious.

"First day?" asked the smiling man beside Belle.

"Yes," she agreed, returning the look. "I hope this is a fast trip up. I don't want to be late, not after the things I've heard about Mr Gold's temper."

The man beside her shifted awkwardly, as she expected he might. No doubt saying such things about the boss was frowned upon, but getting the lay of the land here was entirely her intention.

"Um, I'm Dr Hopper," he said, instead of responding to her comment.

His avoidance was quite enough to make Belle realise she had ventured into territory she should not have entered into.

"Isabelle Hart," she responded, holding out her hand for him to shake. "Doctor? So you're the company medic?" she checked, at which he chuckled.

"Not exactly," he explained , just as the elevator stopped and it's other two occupants disembarked, leaving Belle alone with her new acquaintance. "I'm a therapist. I work with Human Resources, doing what I can with people's stress levels and such."

"Ah," she nodded in response, a smile creeping onto her lips unbidden. "I'm sure they keep you busy here, Dr Hopper."

"Please, just call me Archie," he insisted. "And honestly, I... I have enough to do," he replied vaguely.

They travelled in silence for the next few floors and just seven below Belle's destination, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Archie moved to get out.

"It was very nice to meet you Isabelle," he told her, with what she knew was a genuine grin.

"And you, Archie," she agreed. "Though you really should just call me Belle, everyone does."

He nodded his agreement and said something in the vein of 'see you around' as the doors slid shut then, leaving Belle alone. She huffed out a breath as the elevator once again began to move. From just that brief conversation with one employee she could tell that the things she heard about the way Gold ran his business must be true. One slight hint of a word against the big scary boss man and even a clear sweetheart like Archie got the jitters. He made no moves to defend the honour of his employer, but at the same time was clearly too uncomfortable as to say anything bad that might get back to Gold.

The elevator reached its final destination and the doors opened with the usual ping. Here she was about to embark on the biggest long con she had pulled in a while. Belle was surprisingly unmoved by the whole thing as she stepped out of the car, smiling like it was going out of style. She was every inch the eager new employee without a worry in the world of what might become of her here.

"Hello?" she said, to the first woman that stepped into her path.

The other young woman didn't even glance up, but when her hand pushed her hair back from her face, Belle realised she was talking on the phone via a Bluetooth device at her ear.

"I don't care if they decided not to stock it anymore! He wants it, so get some," she barked. "If it needs importing, then import it! Charter a boat, commandeer a plane, just do it!" she snapped, ending the call abruptly then.

Belle's mouth was open as if to speak again, and yet no words had come out and were not given a chance to. Even an experienced grifter such as herself was a little taken aback by how fast this woman went from yelling her head off to smiling politely and welcoming her aboard the good ship Gold!

"You must be Isabelle," she said, sweet as honey but just as genuine as anything, it seemed. "And right on time. Another minute and you might've gotten yourself into trouble."

"I suppose I did cut it fine..." Belle started, but was unapologeticaly interrupted all over again as the other woman grabbed her arm.

"It's fine, don't worry bout it," she assured her. "Now, my name is Ruby, and all you need to know you can learn from me," she explained, dragging Belle further into the office.

"Okay, um, you can just call me Belle," she said, keeping to her shy and nervous persona for now.

Ruby was clearly a large personality, which the grifter had some respect for. Still, playing wallflower was good for her character right now. She needed to get to know the lay of the land here, who could be trusted and who couldn't, what the general opinion of Gold was. The easiest way was by letting herself be led and influenced a while, or at least appear to.

"Belle, huh? That's cool," Ruby nodded, before moving on quickly. "So, up here there are just the five of us," she explained, turning the new recruit into the kitchen off to the side of the open plan office.

There was a cup of coffee thrust into Belle's hands a moment later, for which she muttered her thanks. Peering over the brim, she took a good look at Ruby. She wasn't entirely sure what she might have expected as one of Gold's closest personal assistants. The red streaks in her hair and very high-hemmed skirt didn't scream class, but then maybe Gold had a thing for much younger woman. That would help Belle some since she wasn't much different in age to Ruby herself, but she wasn't exactly dressed in the same style today...

"I say five staff, but usually it's four," Ruby went on to explain, sipping her own coffee and gesturing for Belle to follow her back out into the office, all the time moving and chattering. "That's Kathryn and Astrid over there. They're like the B team, y'know? Filing, archiving, doughtnut runs, the usual crap that nobody else has time for," she muttered behind her hand. "You and me, we're the A team. We report direct to Mr Gold and pretty much do whatever he asks."

Belle put on her best panicked expression and a deliberate shake in her voice when she spoke then.

"_Whatever_ he asks?" she checked, and though she was acting the terrified virgin, she was at least a little bit genuine in her worry.

She wasn't above a little seduction if it was necessary to get the job done, but their were limits. If this guy wanted to get all Fifty Shades of Grey on her, Belle wasn't sure she was okay with that. Remembering what Regina had threatened made her think she might have to, but she'd rather avoid it if she could.

"Oh my God, no!" Ruby was laughing so hard that Belle felt as insulted as she did relieved somehow. "I mean, not that the boss doesn't appreciate the view or whatever, he is a guy after all, but he would never... y'know, make demands. That's not him," she assured her new colleague.

"Right, good. Sorry about that" Belle smiled sweet as she could manage. "Um, you said there were five people working here sometimes?" she asked then, looking from Ruby to Kathryn and Astrid, then back again.

"Oh right, yeah. The fifth is Granny," she explained. "Her name is Ms Lucas, but she's so like a grandma to everybody, it's like a nickname. She's totally cool with it."

Belle nodded her understanding as Ruby went on to explain how Granny only worked two days a week now, helping out when things were particularly busy or something. She was technically semi-retired. Belle was trying to listen, she really was, but Ruby could talk a mile a minute and on so many different topics one after the other, it was easy to get lost in it all.

The office and the people in it seemed normal enough, nice even. Belle would have to try to remind herself not to get too comfortable here, as she sat down at the desk Ruby said was to be hers and sipped her coffee. So far, so friendly, but this company would be going under before long, and by her own hand. She could not afford to get too attached, that was for sure.

"Ooh, talk of the devil," hissed Ruby then, taking the cup from Belle's hands and putting it on the desk as she stood up.

Belle followed suit, turning around to see a man striding in through the main door to the office. He looked different to the pictures Regina had. Belle couldn't put her finger on what it was but somehow he looked less dark and nasty. Just as fierce and full of power, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Good morning, sir," said Ruby with a winning smile just as soon as Gold drew closer. "This is Isabelle Hart, the newest member of the team."

Gold stopped all of three paces in front of Belle and looked her over. His gaze was burning, almost smouldering. That surprised her, but not as much as the smile that came to his lips when he finally met her eyes.

"Miss Hart," he greeted her politely, reaching to take her hand and shake it gently. "You come with some quite impressive references. I look forward to our working together," he told her.

"Thank you... sir," she replied in the way she thought most befitting, following Ruby's example.

The very next moment, Gold had let go of her hand and was striding by to his office, aided by a cane that Belle had not noticed until this moment. As he went, he called sharply to Ruby that he wanted her in his office in five minutes with his morning coffee, ready to take a letter. The other young woman immediately jumped to attention, promising Belle she would be back soon to talk her through her tasks and everything she needed to know. Apparently she was already sure the new recruit was going to fit in just fine.

Belle smiled to herself as she retook her seat and picked up her coffee once again. So far, so good.

_To Be Continued..._


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I think maybe my saying this fic was inspired by Leverage has put off readers that know nothing about that show, which is a shame because it reads perfectly well if you've never seen it at all... Anywho, thanks to those that left feedback - you're awesome! :)**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 3

Belle felt underwhelmed. It was a fairly normal feeling for a woman as smart and beautiful as she, and yet she had not expected it to come upon her here. Gold Industries was such an impressive company, so they said, and its boss such a tyrant, she really expected to be overcome by her first day in the top office here. Instead, she was decidedly let down so far.

By midday, Ruby had been given a chance to show Belle the basics of her job. The computer programs used, which were basic enough, and the filing system that was no more complicated than the alphabet and a little colour coding. For someone as sharp and quick on the uptake as the grifter, these things were nothing much to learn.

Since then, Belle had been correlating paperwork and updating records, basic things she assumed a trained monkey could be taught to do in not much more than a couple of days actually. It was almost demeaning, and yet Belle painted on a smile and did what she was told without a fuss. She needed to fit in here, and there was no better way she could think of than to buckle down to her so-called work and act as if she loved every moment of it.

The clock rolled around to one o'clock before too long, and above the whispered chattering of Kathryn and Astrid on the phones, Belle heard Ruby call her name.

"C'mon," she gestured towards the door, hefting her purse higher on her shoulder. "It's lunchtime."

"Oh, okay," said Belle with a forced smile as she saved what she had been doing on the computer and moved to get up.

No sooner had she gotten to her feet than the comm buzzer went off on the desk, making her start. She frowned at the old-fashioned device as if it were an unexploded bomb, then quickly recovered and pushed the button to answer.

"Yes, Mr Gold?" she said, glancing sideways at Ruby.

The other P.A. rushed over to the new girl's side.

"Miss Hart," Mr Gold's voice came loud and clear in response. "I need you to come into my office."

"But I was just..." she began, about to make her excuses when she suddenly realised Ruby was making throat slashing gestures and mouthing 'no' repeatedly. "I mean, yes, sir," she said instead, before releasing the button on the comm and standing up again. "I thought we were going to lunch?"

"First rule of Gold Industries," said Ruby with a look, as she took Belle by the shoulders and turned her to face Gold's office door. "When the boss says jump, we ask how high," she said, giving her new colleague a little shove.

Belle winced with the force of not reacting badly. She was now being summoned to Gold's office like a schoolgirl being called to see the headmaster, and literally pushed around by some admin assistant, when she was supposed to be going to lunch. It didn't thrill her to be in such a position, especially when she knew it was for the long haul. This was definitely going to be a long con, no way around that. She was going to have to learn to be amongst people again, and remember that she couldn't always be in charge of every situation she found herself in.

"What can I do for you, Mr Gold?" she asked with a large fake smile, and her best docile little girl eyelash flutter, as she peeked her head around his door.

"You can actually come into my office like I asked you to," he told her without even looking up from his paperwork. "Shut the door, sit down."

He made a vague gesture towards the chair in front of his desk, but never offered to glance up even once. It was degrading and rude, but Belle bit her lip. If she angered the boss on the first day she'd be out on her ear before she hardly started, and that would be bad. Regina would not be pleased and the revenge she threatened on those Belle held most dear would be exacted. That could not be allowed to happen; this job had to be done, and done right.

A good two or three full minutes passed in which Belle sat in the green leather chair across the desk from Gold, and he just carried on working as if she weren't there at all. Belle didn't mind so very much, it gave her a chance to cast her eyes over the office, get a feel for the stage as it were. Her plan was to spend as much time in this room as possible, rather than the outer office with the other girls. She had to be Gold's favourite, earn his trust and be invaluable. Right now he seemed to turn mostly to Ruby and she was nice enough, but Belle decided not to become too attached to the other young woman. She wasn't here to make friends, she was here to bring down an enemy of the people. For this to work, she had to be concentrated on her goal and not allow anyone to throw her off course. If she must trample over Ruby to get to Gold then so be it, however awkward it made things.

It was all very old-fashioned in here, Belle realised. Despite the building looking pretty modern from the outside, and the latest business methods being employed to run Gold Industries to its best possible capacity, it seemed the owner and boss was far less up-to-date in his decor and such. The furniture was wholly wooden, with leaded glass panels in the drinks cabinet and leather covered seats. Traditional, that was the word, quite smart actually, but perhaps more what her father would find acceptable than Belle herself. Gold was quite a bit older than her though. If the file Regina had was true, he would be almost twice her young age, though he wore it well, that much she would have to admit.

"Right then," he said so suddenly that Belle almost jumped, but covered it just in time. "Miss Hart," he said, pushing aside the papers he'd been working on and pulling a new file onto the desk instead. "Welcome to Gold Industries."

"Thank you, sir," she replied politely. "It's a pleasure to be here," she smiled, deliberately fidgeting a little as if nervous, just to make the part more believable.

"And we're certainly glad to have you," Gold said evenly, eyes flitting from the pages before him to her face and back. "Your qualifications and references all look to be in order. I'm quite impressed that a young woman like yourself has already made such a mark on the world of business."

"I work hard. I think it's the only proper way," she replied, hands folding and unfolding in her lap, eyes dropping to her shoes a moment.

He had to buy that she was feeling awkward, vulnerable, a little afraid even. It was the normal set of emotions and reactions for a young woman in her position, a large part of the role to be played. If she came off too over-confident or similar he might see through her or suspect. He might not want her around if she seemed a bit too clever either.

"Aye, dearie. Hard work has got me where I am today," Gold smiled in such a way as to make Belle shudder, and she honestly wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad feeling. "I'm sure you and I are gonna get along famously."

"I'm sure we will, Mr Gold," nodded Belle. "I'm sure you're a fair and reasonable person to work for."

"Oh, I wouldn't go that far," he told her with a hint of a smirk, a joke she was sure, and yet Belle wondered...

All the stories she had heard about Gold and the way he did business, she knew her own comments were a joke he would never notice, and yet he came back with a gag of his own, or what he perceived to be amusing. It made Belle feel sick to her stomach that someone like him could make light of the wrong he had done, the people he hurt, the lives he ruined, the deceit and the pain and...

"You had your interview with Mrs Potts, I see," he commented, glancing back down at he paperwork on his desk. "In our HR department?"

"Yes, that's right," Belle agreed with a nod. "Nice lady," she added as an afterthought, a comment meant to prove she had in fact met this woman who in fact she couldn't pick out of a line up!

"Indeed," Gold nodded once. "Well, of course, you won't be seeing her again for a good long while, since she went on Maternity Leave the day after your interview," he smiled that same shudder-inducing smile again that Belle tried to steel herself against.

Of course, that was not the only thing she was trying not to react to. Gold was prodding into the way she had come to be employed here. Though it was normal for Gold not to interview all the staff himself, relying instead on in-depth questionnaires and his other reliable members of the team to do such things for him, Belle knew it had to be extraordinary for such a position of trust to be filled by someone he had never set eyes on before. It was luck and nothing more that meant the fake interview could be attributed to a woman who left the company for a year's absence the very next day. A little forgery and doctored paperwork in the system, a couple of Regina's people already planted in Gold's building, and it was fairly simple to fool the computer system, the other staff, and consequently Gold into thinking that Belle was just perfect for the job on his personal assistant team, regardless of the fact she had no qualifications, references, experience, or even got through a real interview. As all women knew, sometimes in life you just had to fake it and hope for the best.

"I'm very grateful for this opportunity, Mr Gold," she said then, back to fluttery eyelashes and sweet smiles of girlish charm. "To work so closely with someone as highly regarded in the world of business as you, I... I never thought to have such an opportunity as this," she told him.

That last part was at least the truth. A chance to bring down a man like him was a once in a life time chance. Regina may be using her, threatening her even, but this job Belle might just have pulled for nothing given half the chance. Bringing down Gold would be her ultimate challenge but also her ultimate triumph if she could pull it off. Oh, if her old team could see her now...

"Well, I'm glad we had this little chat, Miss Hart," said Gold at last, closing the folder on his desk and folding his hands on top. "Now, you run along, there's a good girl. I'm sure you're impatient to get your lunch by now."

"Thank you, sir," Belle replied, practically curtseying as she got up from her seat and turned to leave.

Inside she was seething at the attitude of this great oaf of a man. To think he could look down his nose at her like that, to call her a good girl, as if she were a five year old, or worse a lap dog! It was insufferable, but Belle had endured worse, and it would be worth it in the end. She had her smile painted back on as if nothing was wrong when she came out of the office door. She found Ruby sitting on the edge of the desk, her legs swinging back and forth as if she were a bored child.

"You okay?" she asked, tucking a bright red streak of hair behind her ear as she hopped to her feet.

"Yes," Belle assured her. "I just... I think that was Mr Gold's idea of a welcome and putting me at ease, maybe? He just made me so nervous," she lied, forcing a visible shudder that wasn't actually as difficult to make happen as she thought it might be.

"He does that at first," Ruby rolled her eyes as she move to link arms with Belle. "But don't worry, he's not so bad. Now, lets go to lunch already, I have to fill you in on all the gossip about everybody."

"Okay," she agreed too easily on purpose as she allowed herself to be led out of the office and into the elevator.

Ruby hit the button for the ground floor, and began to talk about some cafe down the street where she usually ate and how Belle would love it there. Apparently there was some hottie named Peter that delivered the bread, and Ruby had her eye on him. Belle wasn't entirely listening, just enough to nod and smile in the right places. The other half of her brain was working on ways to squeeze actual useful information out of her new colleague and supposed friend. She certainly was the chatty type, it shouldn't be that hard.

"You don't like any of the guys who work here?" she asked in all innocence, just as soon as Ruby stopped to breathe. "I mean, I haven't met many of them yet but there must be some good looking men at Gold Industries, right? It's a very big building!"

"There are some decent guys here," Ruby conceded. "But work and pleasure, mixing them up doesn't always end well," she sighed. "Just ask Ashley on the front desk. Poor girl..."

And so began a long story about how the perky receptionist Belle had met on her way in this morning had got herself pregnant by one of the Directors hot-but-unavailable sons. Belle once again tuned out half the tale and listened only when she really felt it necessary. These gossipy stories were not going to help her bring down Robert Gold and his giant web of companies that screwed over the less fortunate, that was for sure.

"Of course, the hottest guy that ever worked at Gold was Hatter. Poor guy," Ruby said suddenly as they headed out the front doors of the building and the midday sun hit Belle right between the eyes.

"Hatter?" she checked, sure she hadn't heard that name yet, or seen it in any of the information supplied by Regina.

"Tarrant Hatter? The guy who managed, like, the entire company until one day..."

Ruby made a gun with her hand and pushed her fingers to her temple, clearly miming suicide. Belle swallowed hard and tried to look freaked out. It didn't come all that naturally given some of the people she had known and situations she had found herself in, but she was a professional at this so it was fine.

"I didn't realise," she lied easily as they continued down the street. "So, that's why Mr Gold is here? I mean, I thought he lived in Scotland..."

"Oh, he does, or he did," Ruby explained. "He's from like this old Scottish family that goes back hundreds of years and he always stayed in his big mansion place and mostly let Hatter run things. Then when he, y'know, died, Mr Gold decided that instead of replacing him he should come run things himself."

"Makes sense I suppose," Belle nodded along as they went into the cafe and grabbed a table.

"It was cool working for Hatter. He was a little freaky and intense sometimes, but also fun," Ruby told her new friend. "Mr Gold's just... well, also freaky and intense, and with less fun, but I don't think we have to worry so much about him going crazy on us."

Belle just smiled and perused the lunch menu in front of her. Seemed if she wanted any information about the inner workings of Gold Industries she had just found the perfect source. Oh yes, she and Ruby were going to appear be very good friends indeed.

_To Be Continued..._


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Starting to get into the proper Rumbelle content now, thankfully!**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 4

Work had never been as easy as this before. Of course, the job Belle was doing was just administration tasks and such that were so very simple to her. She was a bright girl, certainly much brighter than this supposed employment required, but then she had an ulterior motive.

It had been a while since she pulled a long con like this, but you never lost the knowledge and skill for it. Belle knew she just needed to keep her head down for a while and gather intel before she started pushing too hard. Today was the first day of her third week working at Gold Industries, and so far, so good. The boss seemed to have accepted her without any trouble, and though she wasn't trusted with much yet, she understood it was because she was the new girl. In time, she would ensure she became Gold's favourite, and then make herself indispensable to his life. By that time, she would be in position to execute the plan, to find enough information and make the necessary moves to bring down the man and the company he ruled over.

It wasn't quite as simple as it sounded on paper, but Belle had confidence in her own abilities, and was spurred on by the deal she had been forced to make with Regina. The businesswoman had not contacted her yet, but that was to be expected. Too much contact between them might attract the wrong attention and lead to Belle being discovered for who and what she really was. As far as anyone in this building knew, she was Isabelle Hart, sweet and homely girl, with a good reputation, qualifications, experience, and not a hint of a criminal record. How little they really knew!

"Good Morning, Leroy," she greeted the custodian with a smile as she stepped into the elevator beside him.

"What's good about it?" he grumbled, shifting his cart of cleaning supplies further into the corner so more people could fit in the car.

Belle let it go. She ought not to have even tried to be nice Leroy. He was just so grumpy, there really was no talking to him most of the time. Still, Belle was determined to appear friendly and kind to anyone she met. It wasn't a huge stretch since she wasn't exactly a beast of a person. At the same time, she wasn't really here to make friends, and when Gold Industries crumbled, they would probably all be out of a job because of her. It was the only downside to such cons as this one.

When a company was crooked through and through, it worked out well. The worst of them went to jail and everyone lost their money and standing. With these bigger corporations, a grifter like her couldn't afford to think about the little cogs within the larger machine, and usually she never had to. This job was going to prove a little more personal, given how long she was going to have to spend with these people. She had met quite a few now, and a great many were perfectly decent and pleasant.

As if on queue, Dr Hopper stepped into the elevator.

"Ah, Belle. So nice to see you again," he smiled brightly. "How are you getting along in the top office?" he asked her.

"Very well, thank you," she replied, forcing a grin of her own. "I admit, Mr Gold can be a little overwhelming in his stern manners, but the work is nothing I can't handle."

"That's good," he nodded along with what she was saying. "I'm glad it's working out for you. Not everybody could take the strain of working so closely with our great leader," he smiled, at which Leroy huffed.

"Great leader," he muttered under his breath. "That's not what I'd call him."

Belle took notice of that, but tried not to smirk at the comments. If an ally were needed in this place, she had a feeling she could find it in the custodian. Leroy had made it clear more than once that he had no regard at all for the boss man. Belle made a mental note - that might yet come in handy.

It wasn't long before the elevator emptied to only Belle, and moments later she stepped out onto the forty eighth floor. For the first time since she started here, she seemed to be the first person to arrive in the top office. A check of her watch told her why - she was in at least ten minutes sooner than usual, though it wasn't a deliberate act.

Glancing back the way she had come, Belle considered how best to use the time she seemed have gained. Gold wasn't usually here so early anyway. Though he had an apartment above, he rarely used it. Ruby said he only stayed over when he ended up working particularly late or something; he had a house across town that he preferred most of the time. Belle knew the girls were going to be another ten or even fifteen minutes at least, so she was safe and alone until then. Her high heels clicked daintily on the polished floor as she all but threw her bag into her desk chair and went straight to Gold's office door. One swift turn on the knob was met by a clunk of the unforgiving lock.

"Damn," she cursed to herself, knowing she had been a fool to think the boss would be so foolish.

Not that it mattered, of course. A pin from her hair was all that was needed, and so she went to work on the lock, sure she could still be in and out before anyone caught her. Her mind ran over the office layout as she worked on the door. The filing cabinet in the corner was probably locked itself, but there was no keyhole in the desk so the drawers should be accessible. It was as good a place as any to start and she might see if she could discover any hidden compartments as well.

Shifting the pin in the keyhole, Belle was certain to hear the lock turn over at any moment when suddenly the elevator pinged behind her. She jumped up from her knees in a second, the picture of innocence before anyone came into the room.

"Morning," she greeted her co-worker cheerily from the end of her desk.

Belle might have thought better of it if she had realised it was Astrid walking into the office. So startled was she that the armful of papers she'd been carrying shot up into the air as she jumped clean off the ground. Belle winced at the squealing sound her 'friend' made, and the sight of so much paperwork falling all over the floor.

"I'm so sorry, Astrid," she told her, scrambling to help.

Honestly, she wasn't all that sorry about it. Astrid was the clumsiest person she ever met in her life and was probably going to drop anything she was carrying at any given moment whether you startled her or not. Still, if Gold came in and saw this mess he'd just be in a foul mood. It really wasn't worth it if it could be prevented.

"I'm such a klutz," said Astrid, all of a panic. "I took all this home to finish collating it, and I wanted to come in early to get it filed away but then the bus was late and..."

"What the devil is going on in here?" Gold's voice suddenly boomed.

Even the usually very aware Belle had missed the elevator bell and the sound of the doors opening this time. To be fair, with Astrid babbling in her ear and the whooshing sound of white, pink, and yellow paper copies being shuffled and collected, it was hardly surprising.

"We had a little accident, sir," said Belle, smiling amiably at her boss. "It'll all be sorted out in no time at all, you'll see," she told him.

Still the scowl on his face remained. He glared more at Astrid than at Belle then proceeded to stride through the office, trampling at least half a dozen pages underfoot. In point of fact, one stuck to the sole of his shoe and went with him all the way to his office door.

"For God's sake!" he cursed when he realised, shifting awkwardly to remove the paper and leaning heavily on his cane.

Belle rushed to grab the paper from him, putting on her best sweet and innocent expression. She opened her mouth to give further excuses and apologies, only to have him cut in without caring what she might've said.

"I need you in my office, Miss Hart, just as soon as you've cleared up this mess," he said with a severe look at Astrid, suggesting he found her as a person more displeasing than the fallen paperwork. "I have an early meeting and I need you take notes."

"Doesn't Ruby usually do that?" she asked curiously.

Though Belle was pleased enough to be given these important tasks over her counterpart, she had to admit to being surprised. Gold seemed to like her as much as he was capable of liking anyone, but Ruby was always first choice for important tasks, mostly because she'd been here longer, Belle supposed. If this was step one to usurping her fellow assistant, so be it.

"Well, Miss Lucas isn't here today, is she?" said Gold through gritted teeth. "She left a message to say she had to take her grandmother to the hospital, and since you are the only other in the office I trust to know your left hand from your right on a daily basis," he said overly loudly towards Astrid, and poor Kathryn who had just arrived in the midst of everything. "You will be the one to assist me with minutes for my meeting. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir," Belle agreed, practically bobbing a curtsey right before Gold disappeared into his office.

Blowing lose curls off her forehead, Belle turned around to see Kathryn helping Astrid with the papers she had dropped, as the poor girl sobbed into her sleeve. It wasn't hard to see why Belle was most trusted out of the three of them, and it wouldn't hurt her at all to be getting in closer with Gold. If she did a good job today, he should start choosing her over even Ruby before long.

Quickly, Belle rushed to her desk. She pulled out a notepad and pen, booted up her computer in an effort to check her emails and such before she had to attend this meeting. In the meantime, she checked her makeup in a travel mirror and reapplied her lipgloss. It didn't hurt to look good in this meeting either, especially if the visitor was male. Gold's associates taking a liking to her would be all to the good as well, she figured, since it might encourage him to use her more for his minute taking and such.

A call came up from the front desk just moments before the computer clock flipped over to nine o'clock. Gold's appointment had arrived, one Mr Killian Jones apparently. The name was vaguely familiar but Belle couldn't quite place it. She only hoped he didn't turn out to be a man she had scammed before, since he would definitely blow her cover. Taking a calming breath she asked Ashley to send up Mr Gold's guest and then buzzed the boss on the intercom to let him know Mr Jones had arrived.

"Don't dally, girl, get yourself in here!" he snapped at her and like the dutiful assistant she was playing the part of, Belle did just that.

She had to bite her lip so as not to yell at his bad attitude towards her, but that was okay. She was a professional and she could take it, she had to to get this job done. Within five minutes, Gold was welcoming Mr Jones into his office. Belle realised that perhaps welcoming was the wrong word as she watched the icy look that passed between the two, but she said nothing. Men of business didn't have to like each other, but they did have to make deals sometimes, whether they wanted to or not.

Sitting down on a chair at the end of Gold's desk, she was perfectly positioned between both gentlemen. Belle wasn't sure that she should be so bold as to introduce herself to Mr Jones but Gold made no moves to either.

"And who is this beautiful creature?" the guest asked after a few moments of awkward silence.

"This is Miss Hart," snapped Gold. "She is here for the sole purpose of taking notes on what is said, since I know from experience that certain people I deal with tend to go back on their word after the occasion," he smiled like a crocodile might.

Belle might've been afraid if she were less of a woman. Truth be known, it sent a shudder through her that she didn't wish to wonder on. Clearing her throat, she crossed her legs and rested her notepad on her knee, waiting to begin.

The meeting was relatively boring and mostly straightforward. She took notes on the deal being struck, the particulars both men spoke of, even details on the papers they passed between them. She felt completely confident in her short hand and the like, though she was somewhat out of practice from the old fashioned task. Most people used recording devices or even cameras these days, but Gold was the traditional type, Belle knew. She wasn't at all surprised by his methods.

"Well, it's been a pleasure, Gold," said Mr Jones after a full half hour of deliberations. "A real... pleasure," he repeated, eyes passing slowly over Belle's whole form even as he was shaking hands with Gold.

"Wish I could say the same, Jones," the older man responded with a sneer. "I'm sure you don't need to be escorted to the door, you know your way."

The smirk on Killian Jones lips said it all as he tipped a wink at Belle then and strolled out of the office like it was he who owned the whole place. Gold waited until the other man was long gone, before angrily slamming his hands against the desk and sitting down again with a bump.

Belle wasn't sure what to say. The meeting between these two had been unremarkable. They were quibbling over prices of products and delivery times, nothing out of the ordinary. It was clear they'd rather not deal with each other, but clearly it was a necessary evil. Why Jones rubbed Gold up the wrong way so easily was anybody's guess.

"I should go type this up," she said softly, vaguely waving her notepad towards her boss.

She headed for the door then, itching to ask what was really going on between Gold and Jones, but knowing that pushing too hard right now could ruin everything. The mood he was in, Gold might just sack her on the spot for her impudence.

"I'm sorry," he said when she was practically out the door, stunning Belle into stopping and looking back at him. "I must apologise, Miss Hart, firstly for my outburst, but moreover for the leering lechery you were subjected to by Mr Jones. You did not come to work here expecting such things, I'm sure."

Belle recovered quickly from her shock, letting out a breath.

"Men will be men," she said reasonably. "I suppose I should be flattered that he finds me attractive at all. I'm not what anyone might call beautiful or sexy or anything."

She ducked her head then, almost blushing, ever the delicate maiden. Honestly, she wasn't sure she could guess how Gold might react to what she said. Belle certainly hadn't expected such vehemence in his disagreement.

"Come now, dearie," he told her, catching her attention. "A man would have to be blind not to notice the beauty of you."

The smile that came to Belle's lips was not as fake as it might have been. The unexpected compliment from him was nice enough. Every woman wanted to be told she was beautiful, no matter the source. The fact it was clear Gold already thought her attractive could also work to her advantage with the con. She doubted he were so easily blinded by a pretty face as so many others she had worked on in the past, but it was a good start.

"I really should get on with some work," said Belle, smiling politely as she hurried out the door.

The grin on her lips only grew as she returned to her desk and sat down at her computer. So far, this was all going very well indeed.

_To Be Continued..._


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Anyone want to know about Belle's old crew? And what Gold is really up to? Here it comes...**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 5

Gold was glad it was Friday and the official working week was at an end. Getting that meeting with Killian Jones over and done with was no bad thing, and breaking in the new girl at the same time had made sense. She seemed like she knew what she was doing, a lot sharper than she appeared at first glance, but Gold had no doubt that was deliberate. Women liked to use their demure looks and shy glances to their advantage, especially with men like him. It wasn't that he didn't believe Isabelle Hart wasn't capable of turning heads. He genuinely did see the beauty in her and wondered how anyone could not, but he also knew how easy it was to be fooled by a pretty face. Gold wasn't quite so naive, at least he hoped he never proved to be.

Putting his hand down under his desk, he yanked on the wire he found there. The microphone dangled from one end as the tape came away, and the cable followed back to the recording device in the desk drawer. Next, the camera was detached from it's hiding place amongst his stationery and Gold pocketed them both. As much as he was a traditionalist in so many things, this new-fangled technology could indeed prove very useful. It wasn't that he didn't trust Belle to take good enough notes, but she couldn't write down everything that was said and done in a meeting that moved so quickly. Indeed, she was mostly just a welcome distraction so Jones wouldn't realise everything he said and did was being caught on tape.

"I'll have you yet," he muttered as he stood up from his desk with a bit of trouble.

Sitting so long let his knee go stiff, and then trying to straighten it proved difficult. Reaching for his cane, Gold winced as he stretched out his aching muscles and tried to walk around the office a bit. Better to fall here where no-one would know than chance one of the cleaning staff seeing him in the outer office or the elevator.

When he was sure he could manage, Gold flipped off the computer monitor, gathered up his papers and turned out the light. He left his office, locking it up behind him, and headed for the elevator. Tonight he would stay over at the apartment upstairs, rather than making the journey across town. He had a lot of work today and would probably need further resources from his office yet. It made no sense to spend the whole weekend dodging about like a mad thing.

"Wow. I never thought I'd see the day when you embraced technology," said a voice behind him, just before he stepped into the elevator.

Gold jumped so much he almost knocked himself over, but regained his balance just in time. He turned sharply to glare at the man that had startled him, and was now dangling Gold's recording devices from his hand.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here?!" he snapped. "I told you no contact, nothing, not until I called you. Are you completely insane?"

"That's the theory," the younger man smirked, even as he held out the items he had picked out of Gold's pockets a second before. "I'm getting tired of waiting around. This shouldn't be taking so long."

"And I'm tired of explaining to you that this is _my_ machine, in which you are but a tiny cog," he snapped, stepping into the elevator alone. "Now, you get out of here, however you got in, I don't care, as long as nobody sees you."

"They never do," the man opposite shrugged. "Just, promise me this is going to be figured out sooner rather than later?"

"I'm not making you any promises, boy," Gold shook his head. "We had a deal, and I'll keep my end of it, as you'll keep yours if you know what's good for you. Now get lost," he growled through gritted teeth, just as the elevator doors closed.

When they opened again all of two seconds later, seemingly of their own free will, the hall way was empty.

* * *

Belle was glad it was Friday when she arrived home to her little apartment. Not that this was home exactly, just a place she was staying whilst she ran game on Gold. As it was, a job this size would mean she was staying here several weeks or even months, so she had made the place as pleasant to be in as possible.

Book shelves filled one wall of the living space, every favourite Belle could imagine lined up upon them. She hadn't had much time to read any of them lately, but it didn't matter, they were right there when she wanted them. There was a small TV she didn't much care to watch, and a coffee table between one armchair and a battered couch that almost matched. That was all the furniture she cared to have in a place only she saw the inside of so far.

Dropping her keys into the bowl on the table, Belle slumped down into the armchair and let out a long breath. It wasn't as if her admin work was hard, but keeping up the pretence of her character was a little wearing at times. She dare not appear to overly clever or confident right now. She needed to play on that sweet innocent facade she had built up at Gold Industries, and it ought not to come so hard to her. Once upon a time, Belle was this girl, dear little Belinda French who wouldn't say boo to a goose. How different that truth was to the lie of Isabelle Hart that she had become.

Belle turned away from the reflection of herself that showed in the mirror across the room. Tissue from the box on the coffee table removed her lip gloss and started work on her eye make up too. Changing her mind on trying to get comfortable yet, she took herself off to the bathroom. Belle washed off her fake persona, returning to her living room feeling much better and able to properly relax now. She almost curled up in her chair with one of her many books when a thought occurred to her.

Grabbing up the paper, Belle skimmed the headlines then turned straight to the back. Searching the classifieds like a woman possessed, she was smiling bright as the sun when she spotted what she was looking for. She sat up enough to lean over into the coffee table, grabbing up her pen and paper. Carefully, Belle began to translate a code she knew so well with the grin on her face growing wider all the time if such a thing were even possible.

It had been months now since she'd heard from her friends, and given their previous work and new circumstances, this was simply the only safe way to stay in touch. Mary Blanchard, alias Margaret 'Snow' White was a fellow thief and grifter. She had been part of the crew Belle had run with for the better part of two years, using their powers for good, as it were. After so long of being career criminals, they had formed a team that helped the down-trodden by targeting the rich, powerful, and ultimately corrupt. They had parted ways when things got so serious between Mary and fellow grifter David Nolan. He was known to the world at large simply as 'Charming' for his ability to talk his way around any person, male or female, and seduce just about anyone he wanted to. He had vowed to give it all up for Mary, especially when she fell pregnant with his child. The team, which had been made up of five in total, disbanded just as Mary hit her second trimester, promising to stay in touch via codes only the team understood, and then only when something major happened in their lives.

A sales notice in the classifieds for a baby's crib was the tip off, and a quick translation of the rest of the coded advertisement gave Belle all the details she needed. The baby had been born, a healthy girl, to be named Emma, and Belle could easily guess why. That child was a tribute to the one member of the law that saw the crew of Robin Hood type thieves as a force for good. Her name was Detective Swan, and she would tie up loose ends that required the law to make it work. She never asked questions, and she never researched the team for anything they'd done. That was due in no small part to the deed they had done for Emma herself, the job that made Regina hate them above all else.

Shaking her head, Belle brought her eyes back to the paper and concentrated on her translation. Mary and David were living it up in the Seychelles right now, quiet and comfortable, and out of harms way. Belle couldn't have been more happy for them. Her only wish was to be there with them right now, though she knew it was impossible. Even if she wasn't knee deep in this con on Gold, making actual physical contact with her old team could be suicidal at the present time. They had to keep their distance for at least a year, on that they had all agreed after their last big job, and they had to stick to it, especially now.

Somehow, Regina knew about the baby. She had shown Belle photographic evidence of a pregnant Snow and she would do harm to those Belle loved if she didn't play by the rules. It wasn't worth taking any risks, not when there was baby Emma to think of, as well as her dear parents. It hurt to be kept from the few people in the world she truly loved, but Belle bore it as best she could. Their separation was a small price to pay. They had saved so many people with their work, seen so many criminals far worse than themselves go to jail, reputations restored to the down-trodden, as well as copious amounts of well-deserved cash. Yes, it was worth it, Belle could not deny, even if it did hurt to be alone sometimes.

She hadn't heard from the two other guys at all. Nobody had responded to her text, sent from one disposable cell to the others with only the co-ordinates of her new address and no other information at all. She knew Mary and David would eventually use the newspaper method instead, but Belle wondered what the others were up to, if they were carrying on the good works of the team on a smaller scale, just hiding out spending their millions, or if they had slipped back into their old habits. One of them might have, but she suspected the other knew better...

Taking a deep breath and clearing the fog of the good old days from her head, Belle set about writing out a response to Mary and David's ad. She dare not write down anything she had in her head, only the coded translation of it. As it was she would be burning the piece of paper with their real message on it, and washing the embers down the sink for good measure. Nobody could get to know her friends location, especially not now, especially not when Regina already knew too much. Belle considered warning Mary and David about the threat of their old nemesis but soon thought better of it. So long as she herself stuck to the plan with this con on Gold, Regina would have no reason to hurt anyone else. Though Belle didn't entirely believe that and her trust in the head of Regal Corp was practically non-existent, she had to go with her gut for now and hope for the best.

Her message complete, she moved to boot up her computer so she could send it over for placing in the paper. Of course her friends in the Seychelles were never going to get a copy of the paper it was printed in, but that was what the internet was for. There were always ways and means now the whole world was connected by technology. They would be looking out for a response, no doubt, after such exciting news. Belle's coded note, headed up with the words 'Wanted: Baby's Crib', expressed her congratulations and best wishes. She mentioned nothing at all about the con she was working now, except to say she was continuing in the teams good work, and hoped to see them soon, somehow.

Her message complete and sent, Belle sat back in her chair and sighed. The smile that had come to her lips at the news of Mary and David's baby still hadn't shifted and she doubted it would for a while yet. The innocent people in the world, they were the reason she did what she did these days. All those years stealing paintings from rich men, playing at being a princess or a duchess, she had loved it. Still, playing for the other side, the side of good people, it felt even better. Bringing down those that thought themselves high and mighty as they walked all over those less fortunate but with a whole lot more moral fibre, it was like a drug Belle couldn't get enough of. She suspected when Gold went down for all his crimes against the innocents he had squashed like bugs on the windshield, it would be the biggest high Belle had felt in years. With renewed confidence and vigour she thought of facing Monday morning at the office and smiled all the more.

_To Be Continued..._


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Belle has plans, but sometimes fate and luck step in and you have to take advantage of them... ;)**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 6

It was a simple enough process if a person knew what they were doing. Belle had come to learn the exact way to bring down men, and women, like Robert Gold. They were held high and mightily on their perches by three pillars. Make each of those supports crumble and you had your crooked business magnate on their back on the ground. The first part was easiest, to take business out from under a person. Steal the big deal they were about to make, ensure all their clients walked away. Any half-decent person of a sneaky disposition could manage such a task, though doing it without leaving a trail was the harder part.

Once the business was taken care of, possessions were next. Personal treasures perhaps, or just the money that belonged to the man rather than his company. Strip away the things a person held dear, and watch them fall deeper and deeper into ruin.

Last but not least, you took all they had left, their good name. That last shred of pride that they held onto, the strength of their good reputation. Shatter that and what was left? The answer was nothing at all, nothing but an empty shell that was good for nothing any more.

This was the same process Belle and her team of good guy grifters had been using for years, and now she must employ it again against Gold. It didn't bother her to bring him down, she thought to herself, as she stood before the looking glass, tying up her hair. He had done some terrible things, she was certain enough of that. Certain deals he had made crippled smaller companies, destroyed other mens' reputations, left former employees destitute. He was far from a saint, much closer to the devil from what she knew. Regina certainly painted him with the blackest of hearts, and yet he could be as charming and sweet as the next guy.

Belle finished pinning up her hair and turned to the left and right, checking her appearance. She looked well enough, and smiled as she recalled Friday afternoon when Gold had actually told her she was a beauty. It was strange really. He hadn't needed to say such a thing, though she had fished for the compliment in a way, interested to see if he would bite. Yes, charming was a good enough word for Gold, and handsome too, if Belle were perfectly honest. Anyone who didn't know any better was sure to think he was a perfectly nice, decent man. Of course, she did know better, and she had to remember that at all times. If she started allowing herself to see any good in this man, she would never be able to complete her task, and that she must do, for the sake of Mary, David, and their new baby, if nothing else.

Steeling herself, Belle threw on her jacket and picked up her keys and purse. Still, all the way to the office block, she couldn't help her brain from whirring on the topic of the nice people at Gold Industries. Even if she could find a way to make herself hate the boss, it was that much more difficult to convincingly think the people she worked with were at fault. Ruby might be a little over-the-top sometimes, but she was also really sweet. The same could be said for the clumsy Astrid, and quiet, reserved Kathryn. They were just nice people, and the couple of days when Granny had come into the office, she had brought home-made muffins and was nothing but smiles.

In her trips up and down in the elevator, Belle had got to know Dr Hopper, and Leroy the janitor. A few others had spoken kindly to her, welcomed her aboard and everything. It was tough knowing that as a result of her con here, many if not all of them might end up unemployed. They didn't deserve that, but destroying Gold's business was the first and most major point of this whole job. Belle had no choice. If she had, she was seriously starting to wonder if she would still be here doing this.

"You okay?" asked Leroy as he joined her in the elevator half way between the ground floor and he destination. "You're not gonna throw up, are you? 'Cause it's me that has to clean that up, y'know?"

Belle shook her head, hardly aware she had zoned out so badly, or apparently looked so very green about the gills. In a moment she had painted on a smile and was assuring Leroy she would not be making any extra work for him to do.

"I'm just... thoughtful today," she smiled sweetly.

"Thinking 'why am I still working for this asshole?' maybe?" he asked her with a smirk he couldn't help, especially when he watched her blush a pretty pink.

"He's really not so bad, you know," she told him, as any good and loyal assistant would when speaking of the boss. "He's really been very decent with me so far."

It was strange how she didn't have to lie about that, she realised. Belle really had expected Gold to be a complete ogre to work for, and yet so far he hadn't yelled or lost his temper, had made no unreasonable demands of her or anyone that she had seen. The deals she knew of were legitimate enough and the only meeting that might have been considered dodgy was on Friday when Killian Jones came calling. That man was not to be trusted any more than Gold was, and Belle was frankly surprised by the animosity between them. They ought to be bososm friends, by all accounts. There was a tale to be told there, and perhaps employing her best skills could pry lose the whole story from Gold.

"Hey, sister!" Leroy yelled, waving a hand in front of her face. "You think any harder, you'll hurt yourself," he told her seriously.

"I'm fine" Belle assured her, just barely managing a smile as she looked towards the elevator doors that had long since opened on the top floor "Really, I am, but thank you Leroy, for being so concerned."

"Concerned?" he echoed, wide eyed as she stepped out into her office. "No way," he grumbled.

Of course, there was no getting away from the fact he had stayed in the elevator all the way up here just to make sure she was okay and they both knew it. Belle was smiling genuinely at that thought as she went over to her desk and sat down. Ruby was already there, though not looking as upbeat as she usually did. That was quickly explained as she spoke of her trip to the hospital on Friday with her grandmother. Things were not looking good for the old lady and Ruby was evidentially upset. Belle didn't want to feel so sorry for her, but it was hard not to. She had lost her mother as a child and knew all too well the pain of seeing someone you loved suffer and eventually depart. It was almost a relief when their conversation was cut short by Gold's arrival. He had a face like thunder and snapped at the two of them to stop gossiping immediately before he docked their wages. Apparently they were not paid 'to share idle tittle-tattle' as he put it.

Belle bit her lip and made herself look appropriately shame-faced at being caught. Turning to her computer she began going through emails, confirming appointments, and chasing up figures from other departments. It was all pretty menial and boring but she knew how to do it, and she needed to work hard if she wanted to get on Gold's good side. It seemed nasty to even think it, but if Ruby was upset and distracted, she was bound to get a little sloppy in her work, maybe even need to take more days off. That could easily work to Belle's advantage if she played the situation right. Putting the knife in to Gold about Ruby wasn't a pleasant idea, but it would help her get closer to the boss herself. That was all to the good if she wanted more opportunities to question him, to search his office, that kind of thing. So far, searching filing cabinets and computer files really hadn't got her very far. Gold was way too good at covering his tracks, it was almost impossible to find any evidence she could use against him legally or even otherwise. Belle needed to know the deals Gold was going to make long enough before he made them to be able to take them out from underneath him. That was easier said than done, despite her position here. Ruby had the best access and that needed taking from her. Belle had to use the other young woman's weaknesses against her, how ever nasty it seemed. This wasn't about making friends, even though that was what Belle knew she was doing here in a way. She had a job to do, a duty to her real friends, a deal to uphold with Regina for everyone else's sake.

"Belle?" her name spoken in Astrid's nervous tone brought her out of deep thought with a bump.

Belle spun around on her chair and knocked the cup of coffee in Astrid's hand all over the floor, as well as down her own skirt. She bit her lip so as not to curse as she wanted to. Such a thing was not in her characters nature, but she did squeal some as the heat of the liquid seeped through to her skin. Astrid started flapping, rushing for paper towels as Ruby scrambled to her feet and joined in with the drama. All this fuss stirred Gold from his office, looking even more mad than when he'd gone in there if such a thing were possible. Belle could've cried all in all, between the burns she was sure she was currently developing and the fact her excellent plan for the day was getting blown to all hell. She needed Gold to think of her as able and perfect for making his favourite assistant, trusting with secrets and the like. Now she looked like a klutz, even if she could make it more Astrid's fault than hers that she was currently stood in the centre aisle of the office, dripping with coffee, tears forming in her eyes.

"What the hell is going on out here?!" he asked, almost loud enough to make the windows rattle.

"Just a small accident, Mr. Gold," said Ruby as she shoved a wad of tissue into Belle's hand, and Astrid scrabbled on the ground amongst broken china shards.

Surveying the scene with a quick eye, Gold's anger dissipated a little. Belle almost thought he looked at her with concern in the next moment, though she couldn't think why he would. She wasn't so very badly hurt, just a little burnt and... As she looked down Belle realised she could see blood. That couldn't be right, it had to be coffee, that was all, and yet now that she thought about it, her lower leg did hurt a lot more than it should for a mild scald.

"Upstairs," he ordered her with his usual authority, before softening just a minute amount. "Please, Miss Hart, do as I ask and go upstairs to my apartment. Ruby, call Nurse Ghorm and tell her we require her assistance."

"It's really nothing" Belle said bravely. "Just a small cut. It must have been a piece of china that flew up..."

She stopped half way through her speech when she realised what he was actually proposing. Going up to his apartment, it was a golden opportunity that ought not to be wasted just because she objected to being treated like a weakling. Well, if that's what he thought she was, may as well play it to her advantage, she thought.

"I, er..." she made herself look down at the blood dripping to her ankle, and swallowed hard.

"Damn it!" Gold exclaimed, seeing what was coming before it actually happened.

It wasn't the world's most heroic save, given the fact he had only one good leg. Still, it was fairly impressive the way he dropped his cane and dived forward to catch Belle as she faked a faint, albeit he had to lean back on the furniture to keep them both off the floor. Belle almost felt bad for crushing the guy against a desk, but at the same time, she was a little impressed by his reactions, and by the muscles she was feeling through his well tailored suit - that was a surprise. Even so, she knew he couldn't manage to pick her up and carry her, that would be too much, and so she let her eyelids flutter, muttering apologies as she tried to right herself.

"I'm so sorry, I... I don't know what happened," she said absently, a hand to her forehead.

"Never mind that," Gold told her, an arm still around her waist. "Kathryn, the other side!" he ordered her and she dutifully came running. "Lean on us, dearie," he advised Belle then as the three of them headed for the elevator.

Inside, Gold used a key from his chain to open a hatch above the usual buttons for the first forty eight floors, revealing one more that clearly took the car up to his apartment. Belle tried not to smile, just concentrated on seeming flustered and hurt as she leaned her weight towards Kathryn still. She really was getting the full access tour here. Had Belle realised that playing the damsel card worked so well, she might've tried it a whole lot sooner!

The elevator doors opened at the top floor in no time, and Kathryn helped Belle to the nearest chair. The blood from her calf looked worse than it was but she made a big deal of not looking too obviously. The sight of even a small wound was enough to make a girl like Isabelle Hart pass out apparently, and Belle had to keep up the facade. It was pretty nasty to see a bit of china jammed into the cut on her leg, but she'd had far worse in days gone by.

Kathryn was gone just as soon as Gold dismissed her and that left Belle alone with the man himself. That was a strange feeling since it had never happened before, save for a brief moment in his office after Killian Jones had left. That was the very moment he chose to smile and simper, and remark on her beauty. Now Belle bristled at that thought which had given her such a warm glow before. Perhaps Gold had got her up here for more nefarious reasons than she first thought. His being nice was clearly a shock to the others, and though Ruby had said he wasn't some dirty old man, maybe she was wrong. Maybe Ruby just wasn't his type or something. Belle tried not to squirm in her seat as Gold stumbled a little coming over to take a seat nearby. He had left his cane behind and was feeling the effects of it. Perhaps she wasn't in so very much danger after all.

"Where is that stupid woman?" he muttered, checking the clock on the mantle. "It's just a few floors in the elevator. How long can it take?"

"I feel so silly," Belle shook her head carefully. "Such a foolish accident and then to faint on you at the sight of a little blood..."

"Hardly your fault," he assured her. "That stupid girl, Astrid! I don't know why I still employ her, she's an accident waiting to happen. Worse, she's an accident that _has_ happened, an accident of birth!"

Belle was a little taken aback by the outburst. It was true enough that Astrid was one of the clumsiest people she had ever met, but Gold was certainly getting very worked up over such a minor injury on her part. She wondered if there was more to this than a simple spilt drink and broken cup.

"I'm not the type of person that... I mean, if you're worried I'm going to sue your company for this, I would never," she told him, with such vehemence as to almost made Gold smile.

"I would never think such a thing of such a charming young lady as yourself, Miss Hart," he smirked more than smiled, she noticed, and not in an altogether nice way.

Belle frowned a little when he wasn't looking. There were times, only a handful of moments, but still, she wondered if he knew more than he was saying. She wondered if Gold knew from the beginning who she was and why she was here. It wasn't impossible, he was an intelligent man. All she was fairly certain of was that she wasn't being double-crossed in the worst way - Regina working with Gold against her would be fruitless. That didn't mean he wasn't smart enough to ralise what she and the Regal Corp boss were up to. Belle felt genuinely sick by the time Nurse Ghorm arrived.

"I shall leave you ladies to it," said Gold, stumbling back towards the elevator, trying not to look like he was struggling.

Belle made sure to thank him for all his kindness and promised she would be back down in the office just as soon as she was patched up. Still her mind continued to whirl with unpleasant possibilities. Was she busted on this con before she had hardly even begun?

_To Be Continued..._


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you for all the lovely reviews on the previous chapter. Much Belle introspective follows...**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 7

Belle let out a long sigh when she reached home that night. It'd been a long and trying day which had not gone at all how she planned it. So much for ingratiating herself with the boss and making a concerted effort in uncovering his dodgy business affairs. Though she had achieved a free pass into Gold's private apartment, she had been accompanied at all times, either by Gold himself or Nurse Ghorm, the company's medical expert. She was never permitted a chance to snoop and wondered if she would ever be lucky enough to get back into this apartment again. For this minor victory, that barely learnt its title, she had ruined a skirt and suffered a wound, however minor, on her leg. No, it had not been the best day.

It seemed it was certainly not going to improve either. There was a package on her coffee table when she came in, though it had not been there when she went out, and no evidence existed as to how anyone had got into her home. She had little in the way of security here, but then Belle never considered she needed it. She kept nothing of any real value in Isabelle Hart's make-believe home, and besides, she knew best of anyone that a determined person could find a way in past any type of security system if they really wanted to.

Sitting down in the armchair, she looked down at the package with a suspicious eye. The kind of person she was, the team she used to run with, Belle had to be careful about what she opened without thinking. It was only when she saw the label on the top bearing the black crown symbol that she breathed.

"Regina," she muttered as she picked up the package and tore into it.

Inside was a cell phone, the kind that was untraceable, even by the best hackers or computer experts. There were no numbers loaded into the contacts folder, and no note asking her to call anybody. No instructions, nothing, just the phone. Placing it back on the table next to the torn up packaging, Belle moved towards the bathroom. She had her make up off quickly and slipped out of her clothes, deciding the skirt was going to require dry cleaning if it was ever going to be right again.

She was soon dressed and contemplating food when she heard the phone ring. It was not the sound of her own landline or the cell her character owned, so that only left one option. Sure enough, the untraceable cell sent to her by Regina was skittering across the table, as it buzzed and vibrated. Taking a deep breath, Belle picked it up and accepted the call from an 'unknown number'.

"Speak," she said sharply, wincing at the laughter soon filling her ear.

"All business," said Regina darkly. "A woman after my own heart, but then of course, all work and no play makes for a very dull girl, Miss Hart."

"What do you want?" Belle snapped, knowing she shouldn't but unable to help it after the day she'd had.

"I want to know how long you're going to take in moving our little plan along?" the head of Regal Corp replied, her tone suddenly much more severe. "It's been almost three weeks and so far I see no difference being made to Gold Industries affairs. Their stock is rising, I've no bad reports about their business dealings. What exactly are you doing in there, Miss Hart?"

"Making coffee, filing papers, the usual for a personal assistant to the boss," she explained, being deliberately impertinent. "I can't just walk in and get my hands on every secret Gold has, that's not the way this kind of thing works."

"Well, it had better start working, Miss Hart, because the fuse on my temper is only so long," Regina told her. "If the boss won't brag to his secretary or trust her with more than minute-taking and letter writing, maybe its time to up the ante a little," she said, and though Belle could not see her she knew she was smiling that particularly evil smile of hers. "Now, I know that for all he can be, Mr Gold is not exactly a rogue with women. He's rarely seen out on the town as it were, and there has been no serious love interest in his life since his poor wife died many years ago," she explained, pointlessly really since Belle already had all this information from the files Regina gave her. "Perhaps we can kill more birds with one stone than we thought. Perhaps you can work on taking his business by way of pleasure."

Belle swallowed hard at that suggestion. She knew very well what Regina was suggesting. Getting to know Gold personally would definitely get her closer to his secrets, not just those wrapped up in his business operations, but potentially those linked to his private life as well. She didn't have to start with taking the company down and then destroy the man, she could go for the whole package in one fell swoop if she could get into the heart of a man like Gold.

"We're not talking about just a seduction here," she told Regina, not a question but a statement of fact. "A man doesn't give everything to a woman just because she'll sleep with him, he... he'd have to love me."

"Exactly," said Regina slowly. "If I'd've wanted Gold seduced, I'd've hired a hundred dollar hooker from the nearest street corner," she explained. "I hired you, because you're better than that, Miss Hart. You know how to change the way a person feels. How to manipulate a man; body, heart, and soul."

She was right and Belle knew it. She could bring men to their knees as easily as she could breathe in and out, and had done so in the past. Along with her team, she had duped men and women alike out of millions by turning on the charm, playing a part, making them think they were getting just exactly what they wanted, then pulling the rug out from under their feet at the last. She could do it with Gold, not as easily as with some of the more gullible marks she'd encountered, but it wasn't impossible. He already thought she was beautiful...

"Fine," she nodded once, even though she could not be seen. "I can do what you want, but you'll still have to give me time. If you want him so in love that he'll tell me anything and everything, that kind of thing can't happen overnight."

"Oh, I think you under-estimate yourself, Miss Hart," Regina chuckled in such a way as to make Belle shudder in disgust. "I'll be in touch again in due course. Don't worry about the phone, I'll never call this number again. Good luck, Miss Hart."

There was a click and she was gone. In a moment of fury, Belle pitched the handset against the opposite wall where it cracked and fell the floor in a shower of cheap plastic shards.

* * *

Even in a situation that ought to be the most relaxing for her, Belle could not find peace. It was strange, but after her call from Regina she felt the need for a bath just to get the impression of the conversation off her skin. The hot water made her leg sting at first but she ignored it after a few minutes, and leaned back in the tub with a favourite book in her hands. Unfortunately, focusing her eyes on the words proved troublesome, despite the fact she was awake and alert enough for the task. Her mind kept wandering to Gold and what she must yet do.

Seducing him would be easy enough. Lesser men had told her everything she ever wanted to know for the sake of a few heated kisses and a well-practiced slow dance. Gold was older than some and wiser than most. He wouldn't fall for a girl's simple tricks, it was going to take a woman of substance and intelligence to really hook him. Dragging him into her bed would have taken some work, especially since Belle rarely allowed herself to go that far just for the sake of a job - she never really needed to. What Regina wanted, it meant having Gold genuinely fall in love with her, to the point where anything and everything he did revolved around her. Belle was fairly confident she could manage such a task, but she couldn't allow herself for a moment to believe it would be all that easy. All her skills would be required to turn this innocent girlish Isabelle Hart into a real woman that Gold would want to love.

Dumping her book to one side, the water splashed as Belle reached for the file that was just within reach. Flipping the pages, she started re-reading facts she had already learnt so well, hoping to hone in on the kind of personal things that might help her get into Gold's good books, help her make the kind of connections with him that he didn't have with anyone else.

There had been a wife and a child, the information said. The wife was dead, but there was no further details on where the son had gone, though from the year of birth he would be grown by now, over twenty in fact. Belle was reminded again how much older than her Gold really was and almost laughed. It was ridiculous really, he was very close in age to her father, and yet the photographs made a liar of the numbers. He didn't look that old, but then it was easy to look good when you had money to help you out, Belle knew that. Yes, Gold was a handsome man, with manners and an ability to be perfectly nice and reasonable. It wasn't much to work with, but then it was only in her attempts to be getting closer to him that Belle would really learn all she needed to know about this man. As she worked on him, tried out certain angles, she would figure out what worked and what didn't. It would be fine, Belle told herself, shifting in the water that was now starting to feel cold. Time to get out of the tub, she said to herself, tossing the paperwork about Gold aside.

A towel around her body and another wrapped around her head, Belle wandered through to the bedroom and opened up both closet doors. She had obtained all kinds of clothes before this con began, but had stuck decidedly to one end of the rail since she put the character of Isabelle Hart into practice. She was prim and proper, every part the polite and shy young lady. If she was going to get a little more attention out of the boss, she was going to have to give him a bit more to look at, she supposed. At the same time, there was no percentage in coming off like a tart. Those type of girls were a dime a dozen, and men didn't fall in love with them, just used them for sport.

It was going to take some thinking about, Belle decided, as she let her eyes and fingers wander up and down the rail of clothes. She had all night to figure it out, and tomorrow she would put the next part of her plan into action.

A laugh escaped at that particular thought. Her plan. No, it was never that. Belle was just a puppet for Regina and today's call and shift in strategy reminded her too much of that very fact. Still, it was all in a good cause. Maybe after she got done with Gold, Belle would know enough about Regina to turn the tables and see her brought down too. She might need a little help with that, and with Mary and David out of the game, that didn't leave many places to turn. The other two guys hadn't been in touch since the team's last split...

Shaking her head from thoughts of the past, Belle set about getting herself dried off and fixing her hair. The present was where her mind needed to be right now, on the plan that had to be put into practice come Tuesday morning, and that was much closer than she had realised. The clock said she ought to be getting to bed by now if she was going to look half decent come first light. Looking up into the mirror, all damp hair and glowing skin, Belle found a smile.

"Good morning, sir," she tried. "Good morning, Mr Gold. Isn't it a lovely day?"

It was way too over the top and she laughed at herself the very next moment, covering her face with her hands. It reminded her all too much of being a teenager and contemplating how best to get the attention of a boy in school she liked. Essentially, it was the same process, albeit everyone involved was older and wiser. She was still trying to get on a man's good side, get him to ask her out on a date, share his secrets, that kind of thing. In its basest form, it was exactly the same situation when she thought about it.

Belle knew all the buttons to push with men, skills well learnt from the age of barely fourteen. She could do this, of course she could, though she still didn't really want to if she were honest. Damn Regina for taking her independence from her. This job might even have been fun if she was doing it for herself, for her team, for a good cause like so many times before. Knowing all her efforts were for that evil cow took the shine off the whole thing.

"Nobody decides my fate but me," she said to her reflection, a look of determination coming over her face. "Nobody," she repeated, smiling at last.

Oh yes, Belle had a new plan, but it wasn't entirely the one Regina had given her. Get Gold on her side, find out all she could to bring him down, that was a solid way forward. Of course, it didn't follow that she had to tell Regina all she learnt, or any of it in fact. Maybe there was still a chance she could do just exactly what the businesswomen had said on the phone, and kill more birds with a single stone than expected, take down Gold and Regina both. It was a hell of an undertaking for a lone woman, but there were resources Belle could call upon if she really needed to. Besides, long odds never stopped her trying before. No reason to let that change now.

_To Be Continued..._


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Time to turn up the sexy just a little bit ;)**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 8

Belle took a deep breath before she stepped out of the elevator Tuesday morning. It was almost nine thirty, over half an hour later than she usually started, but that was all very much a part of the plan. At first light she had called the offices and left a message to say she was very sorry but she would be a little late in this morning, as she had to go to see the doctor. She had concerns about the burn and graze she suffered the day before and wouldn't feel happy until she ensured she was okay. Gold might try to be mad about that, Belle was sure, but he would soon change his tune when he came face to face with her this morning.

The truth was, there was no doctor's appointment, and never would need to be for such minor injuries. Belle just wanted an excuse to be late arriving this morning. She planned to make an impact, and for that she required an audience, all the girls in the office before her, plus Gold as well. With her head held high and a smile on her lips, she walked down the centre aisle towards her seat. Ruby looked up, even if Astrid and Kathryn were too busy concentrating on their work. Her eyes widened ever so slightly, and Belle wasn't surprised. The skirt she was wearing today barely came to her knees and was a light material that was bound to be jostled by a passing breeze. It was a little more daring than Belle had ever appeared in the office before, and the shirt that revealed itself when she removed her jacket was certainly meant for a woman with assets to show off too.

"Hey, Belle" Ruby smiled awkwardly. "Um, were you really at a doctor's appointment this morning?" she checked.

Belle didn't wonder at her friend's strange manner. She probably wondered if she'd been shopping instead, or maybe she'd just gone crazy. It didn't matter so much. It would be Gold's reaction that was worth the whole charade.

"Of course," she smiled politely at Ruby. "I know I'm silly for being so worried about a little cut and a mild burn, but you hear such awful things about infections and... and I couldn't rest until a doctor took a look for me," she explained, all innocence and earnest worry.

Ruby nodded along in vague understanding, and then turned back to her desk as the phone rang. Belle allowed herself a breath and then looked to her computer. There was an email with the subject line in capital letters from Gold, telling her he wished to see her the moment she arrived. Whether it was to yell at her or ask after her health really didn't matter to Belle. She had an invitation into his office, a private moment, and with her new outfit on she was more than confident she could make the most of everything today threw at her. Still, just for the fun of it, she didn't immediately rise from her desk and run into his office, she made a point of reading her other emails first and rearranging papers before she finally pretended to realise where she really should be.

"You okay?" asked Ruby when she jumped up so suddenly.

"Mr Gold wants to see me," she said, fingers lacing and unlacing in front of her in some kind of nervous habit, which was of course entirely faked. "I hope he's not too angry about my being late. I did call as early as I could about my appointment."

"It'll be fine," said Ruby, though her looks were not as convincing.

Gold hadn't seemed all that amused when she needed a day off to take her grandma to the hospital, and he was a stickler for punctuality and the like. Still, maybe it'd be better for Belle if he was angry. She might just be able to play that to her advantage. Anger was passion, in a different way to what she needed perhaps, but easily shifted. Plus, alternating the poor sweet innocent girl act with the sexy confident young woman, that drove most men wild. She doubted Gold was so very different to other men when you got right down to the base instincts of the human male.

Taking a deep breath as if she were about to go to war, Belle knocked on the door with purpose and stepped in just as soon as Gold called for her to do so. He didn't even look up from his paperwork as she came into the room, closing the door behind her like a dutiful assistant would. With her hands clasped behind her back she walked up to his desk and waited for him to realise she was standing there.

"Miss Hart, why don't you..." he began, until suddenly his eyes came up from his desk.

Gold was a little startled to realise his eye line featured the well-formed bosom of his newest P.A. He forced his gaze up to meet her own and tried not to smile. This was definitely new, but mentioning such a thing would just be inviting trouble. Gold knew much better than that.

"Would you please sit down, Miss Hart?" he instructed her, and she dutifully planted herself in the chair.

That didn't really help, Gold realised, as Belle crossed her legs and her already short skirt rode up an inch or two. Absently, he licked his lips and dropped his pen down on the desk. It wasn't as if he hadn't noticed that Isabelle Hart was an attractive young woman. He would have to be blind and stupid, as he had in fact told her, to not notice she was quite beautiful. Of course, she was also half his age and as yet, he wasn't entirely sure she was trustworthy.

"Now, whilst I appreciate that you called early this morning to warn us of your tardiness, I would prefer that you try, whenever possible, to keep such visits to the doctor, dentist, or any other type of profession outside of your work hours, unless it is a complete emergency," he advised her, leaning back in his seat with his hands folded in his lap.

"Yes, sir," she nodded dutifully. "It won't happen again. I can even work through my lunch break to make up the time if it would help," she offered, causing him to smile.

"That won't be necessary, at least not on this occasion," he assured her.

She returned the expression he wore and deliberately leaned over the desk towards him a little more.

"You really are very kind, Mr Gold," she told him sweetly. "I confess, when I first came here... well, there are always rumours and stories. I try not to listen, but I will admit, I was a little afraid of you in the beginning," she said, looking up through her lashes at Gold.

His expression was caught between amusement and intrigue then. Belle knew what she was doing to him. Men liked to think themselves powerful, and tended to get off on knowing a woman was just a little bit wary of them, especially guys like Gold, she suspected. He played nice, but he had a temper. Chances were good the poor little damsel quaking in her boots would get his attention. Later when she turned on a dime and showed she could also be strong and even wild when the need arose, it ought to be the undoing of any man.

"Afraid? Of me?" he smirked wickedly. "Come now, Miss Hart, what on Earth is there to be afraid of?" he asked, arms stretched wide as if presenting himself for her analysis.

"Oh, I know better now, of course," she rolled her eyes. "I mean, you get angry sometimes, but only when people disappoint you. I wouldn't ever want to do that. I hope I'm proving to you how hard I can work, how much I want to do well for the company, and for you," she smiled across at him.

Gold wasn't stupid, he knew seduction techniques as well as the next man. Still, Isabelle Hart was pretty convincing. He wondered if she really knew exactly what she was doing or if her act was as innocent as she was trying to make it seem. She was somewhat of an enigma to him, and it certainly wasn't boring trying to figure her out.

"You're doing a perfectly good job so far, Miss Hart," he nodded once. "Now, run along, get some work done. What else do I pay you for?"

"Yes, sir," she got up from her seat, practically curtseying as she turned towards the door.

She stopped short of leaving with a thought in her head that she couldn't resist. Glancing back over her shoulder, she saw that Gold had gone straight back to his paperwork, just assuming she would leave. It was a testament to his willpower that he hadn't watched her walk away, especially given the way she was dressed.

"Um, Mr Gold?" she called back to him, smiling when he looked up at her with surprise that she was still even in the room. "Why do you call me Miss Hart when all the other girls are called by their given names?" she asked in earnest.

Honestly, Belle really did want to know the answer. Besides, getting him to use her first name was a step in the right direction to their getting closer. It was a win-win as far as she could tell.

"Well, I've known the rest of your team much longer than I have known you," he explained, actually having to think about his answer as he gave it, it seemed. "If you would prefer Isabelle?" he offered.

"Actually, only my parents really call me that," she told him. "Everyone else just calls me Belle, so if you wanted to..."

"As you wish, Belle," he replied, with another single nod. "But in the meantime, you really must get back to your desk, dearie, or nothing is going to get done by either one of us."

"Yes, Mr Gold," she said dutifully before finally leaving the office.

Belle forced the smile off her face as she returned to her desk and got to work. She could feel Ruby and Kathryn both looking her way but refused to turn around. Right now she didn't want to discuss what just happened in Gold's office, since she wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to tell them. Giving them any hints that she was trying to usurp Ruby or get closer to Gold in a decidedly non-business way would not help her. Having the team like her mattered right now, and she had to maintain these friendships she had started to make, at least for the length of the con against Gold, if not Regina as well. Certainly her new plan seemed to be going well so far, she thought, and honestly, she wasn't wrong.

Alone in his office, Gold gave up on pretending to concentrate on any work the moment Belle was gone from his sight. She was quite the puzzle. Dressed as she was today, she certainly had his attention, though honestly, she had been quite adept at claiming it even before. The girl was bright as a button, sharp as a tack, and certainly as pleasing to look at as anyone in the building, perhaps more so. She had an air about her, something akin to respectability, even her revealing clothes. Ruby never managed such a feat and always looked suitable for a street corner to Gold's mind, but she was a good worker, and her outfits that he would often call slutty in his own mind did suitably distract many a man he dragged in for a meeting, allowing him the upper hand that much more easily, so he never complained.

Still, Belle was different. She could get a man's attention away from work easily enough with her shy smiles and fluttering eyelashes. Add to that how she looked in a shorter skirt and plunging neckline, and Gold could imagine she would genuinely bowl a lesser man over. Of course, his own head was not so easily turned, whether that was what she intended. Gold told himself that, but in all honesty, he had just forgotten entirely what he'd been doing before Belle walked in. That was a curious problem that he didn't much like having, and yet couldn't find a way to genuinely dislike.

* * *

"Belle?" Ruby caught her attention at last by tapping her friend on the shoulder. "Are you ready?"

"Ready?" she checked, looking up at her team-mate.

"For lunch?" prompted Ruby, wondering at the blank expression Belle wore. "It's already five after one. I couldn't get you out of this spread-sheet related trance!"

Belle laughed at that, a cover for the fact she had to think what to say next. She knew very well that it was lunchtime, but Gold had gone out at noon, saying he would only be an hour. She really didn't want to leave right now, she wanted to be here when he got back, and preferably without Ruby. Of course her first thought was to tell her friend she had to work through her lunch break because of being late this morning, but she wondered if that would really work. Ruby might have over-heard what was said in Gold's office this morning, or may know he wouldn't have given her such a punishment. It wasn't worth the risk of that particular lie.

"Oh, er... you go," she said eventually. "I'm going to stay here today."

"Really? Why?" asked Ruby in real confusion.

"I just, I have all these figures to finish inputting, and I was so late this morning," Belle shook her head sadly. "Mr Gold was so nice about it all, but I just feel like I should stay."

Ruby wasn't convinced or impressed, but after a few moments consideration she decided to go to the deli without Belle, promising to bring her back a sandwich.

"You have to eat," she reasoned, and Belle didn't bother to argue with her, especially since she made an excellent point.

Going back to her computer, Belle continued to hammer away on the keyboard, finishing out the spread sheet that had held her attention before. The truth was, it took very little concentration to copy numbers into boxes. Her eyes were mostly on the compact mirror she'd set on the desk, aimed in such a way that she would see Gold entering the office again without ever having to turn around. She wanted to see his expression, everything, before he got too close if this was all going to work. If he came back angry, she had to play the situation differently to if he was in a happier mood.

It was around ten minutes later she heard a vague 'ding' and was sure the elevator had brought Gold back. Training her eyes on the mirror, she watched the door open, and her boss walk in. He didn't look all that happy, but then he hardy he ever did, Belle observed, apart from when they were alone together and she made him genuinely smile. He wasn't in a foul mood anyway, she could tell that much, and smiled as she rose from her desk. Just as he was level with her she took a single step and then stumbled back against her own desk, grabbing at her calf where it had been injured in such a minor way the day before.

"Damnit!" she cursed, quite out of character for the girl she was portraying, deliberately glancing up to catch Gold's eye when he glanced her way. "Oh, I'm sorry, Mr Gold. I'm not usually so rude, or so clumsy," she explained, even as she hopped up to sit on the edge of her desk.

"You are in pain, Miss Ha... Belle?" he amended quickly.

"It's really nothing," she assured him, crossing one leg over the other and running her fingers over the large sticking plaster that covered her small cut and burn. "I think sitting so long has just allowed it to tighten up on me. I'll be fine in just a minute, I promise."

Gold had a hard time looking at her face right now, and she knew it, shifting herself back on the desk a little more so her skirt rode up another inch. Belle's hand ran up the length of her hurt leg as she stretched it out carefully. Keeping the smile off her face was the hardest part, especially when she considered what the hardest part probably was for Gold.

"Get down off the desk, Belle," he told her sharply. "We don't want any visitors thinking they've stumbled into a free show."

He turned and stormed into his office then, the door slamming shut behind him. Belle shifted back into her chair and forced down the giggle that rose in her throat. So far, so good.

_To Be Continued..._


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Getting into the proper Rumbelle scenes now, borrowing from their actual storyline & scenes from OUAT, because otherwise its not them, is it? ;)**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 9

It was finally Friday again. Belle had spent the week dressed in her more alluring work clothes, playing up to Gold any chance she got in her own subtle way. She had him on the ropes as they said in boxing, catching his attention more often than she ever had before, and being called upon just that bit more often than Ruby so far. Belle tried not to smile about it and never made mention to Ruby. Honestly, she considered, the person she had replaced was probably as indispensible as she was proving herself to be. Ruby had said she and Belle were to be the A Team to Kathryn and Astrid's B Team after all, so she could hardly balk at her fellow assistant being kept as busy as she was herself.

Belle was busy building ground work, that was what all this was about. As she and the dreaded Regina had discussed, seducing a man was no good on its own, not for this kind of thing. Gold had to fall in love for it to be a worthwhile con. Sex was too easy and bedfellows too simple to cast aside. If Belle allowed herself to become the cliched secretary, taken roughly over the desk when the boss was bored, she would most likely find herself treated worse in working hours, and soon dismissed before she caused any trouble. Besides, she didn't think Gold was that type. If all he was after was a bit of rough and tumble, that would be what Ruby was for him, Belle was certain. Yet, her fellow P.A. had assured her none of that went on here.

Physical connections were far too simple and base. A truly great grifter worked on the emotional connections, tapped into deeper wants and fears, using those to her advantage. Belle planned on tonight being the beginnings of a new connection between her and Gold. She just had to wait out the rest of the girls in the office.

Ruby was out the door on the dot of five, always wanting to escape just as soon as she could on a Friday. She offered Belle the chance to go out dancing, but her friend politely declined, saying she wasn't feeling up to it. Belle had been feigning some kind of non-descript illness all day, and was sure everyone she spoke to had noticed. Archie had asked her in the elevator this morning what was wrong, at which she sighed and said it was nothing really. It had been the same with Ashley at the front desk, and Peter, the guy from the deli who Ruby had such a crush on. Gold had said nothing about her odd mood, but she was pretty sure he had noticed. If he hadn't before, he certainly would very soon.

Kathryn was next to leave, yawning all the way, but Astrid just kept on saying 'five more minutes' and 'I just want to finish this'. It was twenty after five and still she was dithering. Belle was getting frustrated now.

"Astrid?" she said carefully as she walked down to her team-mate's desk. "Is there anything I can help with?"

"Oh, no, it's fine," she laughed lightly. "Honestly, I can do it, I just... oh!" she gasped, putting both hands over her face as the computer screen froze. "No, no, no!"

Belle peered over Astrid's shoulder and realised what had happened. So much for being another five minutes, it was likely they'd all be here another half an hour if she let the girl start over again.

"Here," she said, taking the papers from Astrid's shaking hands. "I'll take these and figure all this out. It won't take me very long. You should go home and get some sleep. You look exhausted," she told her kindly.

"Really?" she all but squeaked, feeling silly. "Are you sure, because..?"

"I'm positive," Belle smiled. "Really, you should go."

All the urging finally paid off, and after about four more thank yous, Astrid finally left. Belle sighed and headed back to her own desk, casting an eye at Gold's door. He was still in there, and she intended to stay until he came out, however long that took. She supposed it never occurred to him to come check his staff had left, sure as he was that they all wanted to escape to their weekend just as soon as possible. Belle was going to prove him very wrong today, with her own special agenda.

Feeling that she at least ought to keep her promise to Astrid whilst she was here, Belle tapped through folders on her computer and re-collated the paperwork she had taken from her colleague. She had the whole mess sorted out in a matter of fifteen minutes and smiled as she hit save. To think Astrid had struggled so much, it was a wonder the woman kept her job at all. Belle was sure she was in fact smarter than she seemed, she just gave into worry and panic far too easily. That was the downfall of so many, including a great many marks Belle had gone after. That led her mind full circle back to Gold and she spared his office door another glance. Still no movement.

Belle huffed as she got up and went over to Astrid's desk to put back the paperwork she had sorted for her and then set about rebooting the computer, getting it back into shape before shutting it down for the night; all sorted out.

Belle hated the waiting part of any job. She was impatient by nature, just wanted to get on with things. Sure, long cons worked well sometimes and she was quite capable of running that kind of game on a mark, but even in those she felt she was doing _something_. This was literally sitting and twiddling her thumbs until that blasted door opened. Belle was ready to scream with frustration when she heard a noise in the silence. Gold was moving, she could hear the rhythm of his footsteps and cane against the floor.

In the two minutes it took for him to tidy his things away and reach the door, Belle had turned back into her desk, her face in her hands as she cried. As Gold opened the door and stepped out, he was surprised to find anyone still in the large outer office. Finding Belle in a such a state of upset was the very last thing he expected.

"What are you still doing here?" he asked, perhaps not as kindly as one should when a young woman was in distress, but then Gold was hardly used to facing such circumstances.

Belle looked up as if startled, wiping her cheeks dry with her hands. She swallowed hard and stared up at her boss through damp lashes. Crying wasn't hard for her, after so many years of practise. Besides, she had plenty of tragedies she could bring to mind in an instant that would easily induce tears. Letting them out once in a while, even for a job, had to be therapeutic she supposed.

"I'm so sorry, Mr Gold," she told him, quickly tidying her desk. "I should go, I... I'm sorry," she repeated, and yet she stopped short of actually leaving, standing up but only contemplating the door with a real look of horror.

Gold didn't quite know what to make of her behaviour. Belle was a marvel and no mistake. When she first started here he had wondered if she were as genuine as she appeared. All sweetness and light, it was a bit of a far fetched proposition for a young woman in this day and age, and Gold knew it. She made him wary, but he could find no evidence that she was anything but what she seemed. All her references and details checked out, and he always knew where to look. Yes, she was as real as he was, and she proved to be good at her job. He had no reason to think badly of her, much less get rid of her. Besides, he was almost starting to like having her on his team, competent as she seemed.

Things had changed a little this past week. Belle had been so shy and sweet in the beginning, but had started to show more confidence this past week. Shorter skirts, low cut shirts, Gold was only a man when you got right down to it and of course he noticed. She acted more or less the same, not making any kind of suggestions or moves that might be called inappropriate. She was as sweet and courteous as ever she had been, and just as useful to Gold, perhaps more so in fact. Yes, he liked her well enough, and no, he didn't like to see her distressed. Gold just couldn't understand what had Belle so shaken up.

"Is something wrong, dearie?" he asked carefully, uncertain as to if he should ask at all, but then there was no-one else here to do so. "You don't seem very eager to leave."

"What is there to go home for?" she sighed. "Oh, I'm such an idiot!" she cursed herself then, putting a hand to her head as if she was making it ache with her own stupidity.

Gold was still lost.

"Now, I'm sure that's not the case," he told her. "I don't employ idiots as a rule, especially not in this office," he said definitely, trying to catch her eye, but she would barely look at him.

"My work is the easy part," she sighed. "Why is the rest of life so complicated?" she asked in earnest as she finally turned her head and met his eyes. "Why are some people just... just not what you think?"

She held his gaze then, as if trying to read whatever he wanted to say out of his head before the words were ever spoken. She was striking a nerve here and she knew it. It was true enough that Gold's wife had died, she was certain of it, but the couple lived apart long before that, she knew from the details Regina had given her and further research of her own. He knew the pain of loss, of being hurt by someone he loved. Belle could use that. Of course, the best way to play him wasn't like this. Gold wasn't the kind of man to spill his guts just because some pretty girl cried a little and fluttered her eyelashes. She could do better than that.

"I'm sorry, I truly am," she apologised again, tearing her eyes from his so suddenly as to surprise him into movement.

He shifted out of her way as she grabbed up her coat and purse, and moved towards the door at last. She called a further apology over her shoulder and a promise not to make a fool of herself anymore. Belle got all the way to the door but when she reached to open it, her body lurched. Her hand shot up higher than the handle to take her weight as she faked an attempt not to faint or similar.

Gold watched the curious shudder of her body and frowned. Something was really not right here. He hurried down the office towards her as fast as he dare, with his cane to support him but a bundle of folders under his other arm. As he reached Belle's side he realised her eyes were closed and her body shaking. She wasn't just upset, she looked positively sick.

"I'm s..."

"Belle, if you say you're sorry one more time, I shall sack you," he told her succinctly, just a hint of a smile playing at his lips as she glanced at him then. "Come along dearie, lets take you somewhere comfortable and get you a cup of tea, see if we can't put a little colour back in those cheeks."

A hundred thoughts ran through Belle's head at the sound of those words, but not a one showed on her face nor reached her lips. Gold was a man, potentially a ruthless and bad one when it came to business, but she had no real fear about going upstairs to his apartment with him. He was half lame and twice her age. She had no doubt if he did prove to be the dirty old man some might suspect him of, she could easily defend herself. Three different martial arts served her well all these years, no reason to think they'd fail her now.

"Are you sure you don't mind?" she asked shyly, but Gold was already offering her to lean on him a little as they walked through to the elevator.

It was going to get much too repetitive if she kept playing the vulnerable card this way, but that was okay. Belle had many more plans that built off this one. Playing to your strengths was always a good idea, and her damsel in distress bit after the broken crockery incident had got her plenty of kindly attention. She was going in that direction again on purpose, at the same time using the emotional connection she needed to make here. She had a sob story prepared, rooted in truth as all the best lies were. It was that much easier to keep a story straight if you made up as little as possible.

No sooner was she seated on the sofa in Gold's luxurious apartment, he was fetching a tray of tea things. He barely made it from the kitchen door to the coffee table weighed down by the silver tea set and two dainty tea cups on saucers without an accident himself, but Belle said not a word about that. She was the poor damsel, and he was her brave knight. That was the game, the basis of the fantasy.

"Thank you," she said politely, offering to pour out the tea he had brought for them both. "I really don't deserve you to be so nice to me".

"Really?" asked Gold, eyes glittering with some kind of mischief apparently, something Belle had quite been ready for. "And why is that, Belle?"

"Well, we barely know each other," she considered, mostly looking into the tea cups rather than at his face. "I work for you, the same as a lot of other people, and I'm sure they don't get invited in for tea just because they're so weak as to cry over a man not worth the time of day!"

She ended much more loudly than she had begun and with a hint of venom that came all too easily when she thought of a particular person she had once thought worthy of her heart. Oh, how wrong she had been.

"Ah, so this is what has you so upset," said Gold, nodding knowingly. "Boyfriend trouble, is that it?"

"Not anymore," said Belle snippily as she handed him his tea. "He stopped being my boyfriend just as soon as I realised what a pig he was. I am not going to be controlled, I told him that from the beginning. No-one decides my fate but me," she said definitely.

Gold liked the conviction with which she spoke those words. A million miles away from the wide-eyed sobbing mess she had been downstairs, she was a tower of strength in a second, but deflated again just as fast a moment later.

"Of course, being strong and independent is all very well... but it gets awfully lonely," she sighed, stirring her tea listlessly. "I just thought I'd feel better with him gone, but I miss him. I miss how I felt when I was part of something else, something bigger than just me," she explained. "Does that make sense?"

"Break ups are always hard," Gold shrugged non-comitally, sipping his tea. "I should know."

"Really?" asked Belle with wide eyes as if she were genuinely surprised. "I wouldn't have thought you had any trouble getting whatever you wanted, or keeping it for that matter."

Gold smirked at that, one of those looks that could be equal parts sexy or evil dependent upon your point of view. It made Belle shudder in a way she couldn't really dislike somehow.

"Let's just say I'm a difficult man to love," he told her, apparently not willing to say any more than that right now, as he drained his tea cup.

Belle floundered for all of a moment before she picked up where she left off.

"Well, I was the one who did the breaking up and yet I'm the one who seems to be suffering," she sighed, shaking her head sadly. "I know it's silly, I just... my mind gets distracted and I couldn't face eating lunch. I suppose that's why I felt so faint just now," she explained. "I don't want to be weak. I tried to get over it all easily, putting on these clothes, showing the world I wasn't going to hide away like some frightened little girl. You must think I'm such a fool," she said, puling at the short skirt she wore.

"We already established I don't think that at all," said Gold, leaning back in his armchair and observing her carefully. "You're an intelligent young woman, Belle. You picked a wrong man, it happens," he shrugged it off as nothing. "You had good reasons, and I think you know deep down that you deserve much better, that you _are_ much better than this controlling oaf you've dismissed."

"Thank you," she smiled sweetly at him. "You're very kind, and I'd like to think you're right but... but what was I doing thinking this was better?" she continued, running her hands over her thighs and knees, bringing attention to her short skirt and shapely legs once again. "What must people think of me? What must _you_ think of me?" she rolled her eyes. "I look so _cheap_."

"No," Gold answered immediately, more like a reflex than a response he had thought on much. "Sometimes Ruby, she can look fit for a street corner, but she works hard and I admit it doesn't hurt for certain gentlemen I conduct meetings with to be distracted," he explained, almost looking ashamed of it somehow.

Belle smiled genuinely because she just couldn't help it.

"Your mode of dress these last few days has been a touch more risqué perhaps, but nothing inappropriate," he assured her. "You are young, with a figure to be proud of, Belle. I take no issue with you showing it off, provided you do the work your paid for and don't make a spectacle of yourself at my expense."

It was all so proper, so civilised. He was being so sweet apparently, Belle didn't quite know what to make of it. She had expected that charming Gold with her looks and shy manners would take time given how cold and bitter he could be at times. Instead, he seemed so easily brought to kindness and warmth with her. It was quite confusing.

"Thank you, Mr Gold," she said politely putting her tea cup back onto the tray. "You've really made me feel so much better."

She stood up fast making to leave, only for the table to be jolted by her foot. The tray shook, dislodging the cup she had not placed correctly. It tumbled to the hard floor with a thud. Belle stooped to pick it up on instinct, narrowly avoiding hitting her head on the same table as she rose again.

"Oh," she reacted with genuine surprise, maintaining character by a thread. "Um, it's... it's chipped," she declared, genuinely feeling just a little bad after he had been so nice to her. "I'm so sorry."

Belle looked up through her lashes at Gold who appeared completely unmoved by what had happened.

"It's just a cup," he literally waved away her concern with on hand, wondering at how anyone could look so worried over something so simple - only Belle could, he thought. "And we spoke already about your apologising far too many times today, dearie," he smiled in that almost mischievous way again as he rose to his feet.

"Right," Belle nodded once, placing the chipped cup further onto the table where it could not fall again. "Well, I really should be going. I do honestly feel much better now," she assured him.

By the door, they said their goodbyes. He checked if she needed him to call a cab but she declined. She had missed her usual bus but another would be along in just a few minutes, so she had no worries about it. There was one awkward moment when neither seemed to know how best to part company. She was his employee, a simple 'see you on Monday' was all that was generally needed, but here they were at his apartment, and he had been so sweet to her. Belle reminded herself she was playing this man, and must act accordingly, regardless of how he had actually made her feel.

"Thank you again for being so kind to me," she said sweetly, leaning in fast and placing the lightest of kisses on his cheek.

In the next instant, she was gone from his sight, and Gold stood watching the elevator long after the car had taken Belle away. She was an extraordinary young woman, and in this moment, he really was not at all sure what to make of her.

_To Be Continued..._


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I have a feeling this fic isn't as popular as some of my others because of the prortrayal of Belle. Rest assured, the longer this goes on, the less she wants to be in this situation. She's going to realise that Gold is not as bad as she seems, and the more that happens, the more she'll wish Regina hadn't gotten her into this mess! Plus, the Rumbelle is going to get going before long, as you may have noticed in the previous chapter... and you'll see in this chapter... plus, plot twist ahoy in the closing scene of this one ;)**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 10

Belle woke with a start, sitting straight up in bed and gasping for air. She was used to nightmares, even to strange and outlandish dreams. The work she did, the traumas she had been through in the past, things had a habit of mixing themselves up in the subconscious mind and throwing out the most ridiculous scenarios. Still, she hadn't ever had a dream like this about a mark.

Most people Belle took on were too awful to think of as anything but evil, and few were even physically attractive enough to make an impression in any sexual sort of way. Now here she was, panting for breath as the images from a rather erotic dream continued to dance through her head even though she was awoken.

Gold was far from ugly, Belle was well aware of that. He was the handsome type, older than her by a fair bit, she knew, but he did look good on it. He had money and took care of himself, she had no doubt. His bad knee aside, he was fit and able as anyone ten years younger than himself, Belle was certain. In her dream, he had no cane to lean on and no trouble in walking. In fact he had swept her up into his arms and carried her to his bed with no problems at all.

Belle put a hand to her heaving chest and tried to calm her breathing as her mind caught up to what happened next. Obviously she had no real idea what kind of lover Robert Gold would be, her mind had simply thrown together her own past experiences and enhanced them tenfold until she woke up quite overcome from her imagined throes of passion with her supposed boss. He had made her scream and she'd loved every second of it.

"I don't want that," she said aloud to herself, but her body betrayed her in every way it possibly could.

Belle did want it. She wanted the reality of that dream she had just experienced so much right now that it hurt. Her stomach lurched when she realised what that meant, dampening her ardour considerably. She wanted the mark, the enemy, a man so amoral and corrupt...

Belle's thinking took a distinct turn then. What proof did she really have of any of this evil behaviour by Gold? Perhaps he wasn't the world's most kind and considerate boss or man, but she had worked with him a whole month now and had yet to see any real evidence of his being so very bad. There were meetings and phone calls she wasn't privy too, of course, since she had yet to go as far as bugging his office. Back with the team, that would've been Step One with most marks, but with someone like Gold you had to be a little more stealthy. Belle didn't have access to the best tech anymore, not without contacting the others and taking risks. Some bugs were just too easily spotted and so she did things the old fashioned way. She wondered now if taking a technological route might have made getting evidence against Gold that much more simple, and not put her in the position she was in now, quite literally flirting with danger.

Calm as she was now from the dream that had startled her awake, Belle swung her legs out of bed and padded along to the kitchen. She most definitely needed a glass of water after all that, but she moved and fetched her drink on autopilot as her mind spun on. She had no solid evidence of bad business dealings by Gold. He had certainly proven to be a gentleman with women, even when he was practically offered them on a plate. He snapped at Astrid and others who worked for him, but Belle had to admit any employee that incurred his wrath that way thoroughly deserved it. She was surprised that he hadn't sacked more of them by now. He was pleasant to talk to and made her feel comfortable in his home when she was upset. He cheered her up, genuinely and completely, and didn't even lose his cool when she broke what she knew for a fact was be expensive chinaware.

Belle sipped at her water as she thought some more. The only actual evidence she had against Gold had come from Regina, and that in itself could easily be wrong. Big businessmen were always presumed to be somewhat crooked. To get as high and mighty as they did, their means had to be as foul as they were fair at times. It was true enough that many a powerful man and woman quaked at the name 'Robert Gold' meaning he had to be ruthless and that they knew his hard reputation. That wasn't evidence, merely good rumour, since that was all reputation was, nothing solid until it was proven with real evidence. Belle couldn't help but keep coming back to the fact that she had no true evidence of what Gold might or might not have done that was so very bad. She had believed Regina and a whole lot of rumours from the old days. When she and her team went after a mark, they checked them out thoroughly, gathered all the facts to show that these men and women were as bad as their clients professed, that the stories checked out. On this job, Regina had been Belle's primary source, and everything else she had gathered herself was mere speculation, nothing concrete. Of course Regina would want rid of Gold, he was her main rival. Whether or not he had done anything she accused him of was beside the point to someone like Ms Mills.

"Stupid girl!" Belle berated herself, slamming her free hand hard against the counter top.

She should have checked more thoroughly into this con, she knew she should. Panic had been what fuelled her, worry and fear of what would happen if she refused to do as instructed. Regina had threatened Belle with the one thing that would guarantee her co-operation, hurting the friends that had become her family when her blood relations were no longer around to care.

Now it was too late and there was no way out. Well, that wasn't strictly true, Belle realised, laughing humourlessly at the very idea of her only alternative. She could tell Gold the entire plan and bring him over to her side, but as much as she had no evidence of his being so very bad, she had nothing definite to say he was good either. No doubt he would love to see Regina brought to her knees, but he and Ms Mills could just as easily be plotting together behind Belle's back.

Putting her face in her hands, Belle forced back the scream of frustration that rose in her throat. This was getting ridiculous. Two in the morning was no time for such considerations. She was going to drive herself completely mad if she carried on and would be no further forward in knowing the truth.

Finishing her glass of water, Belle took herself back to bed. She forced herself to think of better things, how happy Mary and David were now, and how she might get to visit with them one day when this job was over. Soon she had fallen back to sleep with a content smile at her lips... at least for now.

* * *

Robert Gold looked out of his window at the moonlit city. He should've gone home tonight, taken himself away from the office where he already spent too many long hours. The apartment wasn't really far enough to let his mind take a break, but it was convenient. He came up here with Belle and then finished off some paperwork. By then he couldn't be bothered to drive or even hail a cab, and so he had taken himself up to the bedroom on the very top floor of the building. Sleep came fairly easily in the beginning, but a disturbing dream had awoken him abruptly and since then he had not dare try to rest again.

Sipping at the large brandy he held in his right hand, his left leaned heavily on his cane as he stared out of the window still. It was a beautiful enough view, but his dark eyes were not really seeing it, they never did. Skyscrapers and such only held so much charm. Gold much preferred home, the rolling green hills and fields of his dear bonnie Scotland. Coming to America sometimes seemed like such a mistake, and yet it was a necessary move in order to achieve so many objectives. Some of Gold's reasons had been the basis of his dream, mixing in with too many fears he harboured deep inside his blackened heart.

"Where are you son?" he muttered, before turning away from the window.

His eyes drifted to the bed he had abandoned half an hour before. Part of his dream there had been less dark and yet still equally as disturbing to him. A grown man of the world like Robert Gold was used to the occasional erotic dream, but this was different. Belle was different, that was for sure. She was like no other woman he ever met, sweet and innocent in one breath, seductive and desirable in the next. His dream had shown both sides of her in glorious Technicolor. Crying in his arms like a broken child in one scene, and then another had her straddling him atop his own desk, making his whole body quiver with her touch. Gold closed his eyes at the imagined memories and pushed them away for fear of what those kind of thoughts might do to him. He had to keep a clear mind where Isabelle Hart was concerned, not least because he wasn't sure yet if he could completely trust her.

Nobody could be as genuine as Belle. Strangely, that was what made Gold suspicious. She was either entirely what she seemed or the world's greatest actress. Gold just couldn't quite decide which. There was no concrete evidence to suggest she was anything but what she appeared, and yet he couldn't quite allow himself to believe it. She was so decent and pleasant to him, so alluring sometimes. She had to know that her behaviour often constituted flirting, surely she could never be so naive as to not notice. Women weren't that way with Gold, at least nobody he hadn't paid to be so. Most were extremely wary of a man with his reputation, but not Belle.

Shaking his head clear of such ridiculous thoughts, Gold moved to place his now empty glass on the table in the corner. He was reminded by the simple move of Belle with her cup earlier today. She looked so mortified that she had put a chip into the piece of china, when in truth it mattered not one bit to Gold, as he told her.

Perhaps she really was as sweet and naive as she seemed. Certainly she could be as endearing as she was seductive sometimes, whether she realised either quality existed in her or not. The mixture of them could prove almost too intoxicating to bear, but Gold knew he was stronger than that. No woman was going to throw a spanner into the workings of his very intricate plans. That was what he told himself, even if a voice in the back of his mind did tell him he was a fool to believe it, as he took himself back to bed.

* * *

"Was it really necessary to bring me here at this time of night?" he asked just as soon as she came into the office.

Regina tried not to react to the fact the visitor was sitting in _her_ chair, his feet propped casually on her desk too.

"How did you get into this room?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

He looked completely unabashed as he smiled in an almost mocking way.

"Now that would be telling, wouldn't it?" he told her, dropping his booted feet to the floor then and standing up. "Can we get to the point of why I'm here now? Your message was pretty vague."

Regina said nothing, just stalked around the office to take her rightful place behind the desk, gesturing for her visitor to take the other seat. He declined and stood leaning on the back of it instead, waiting for the explanation he'd now asked for twice, to no avail.

"I know about your plan to propel yourself into riches since you already lost much of what you made with your old team of charlatans," said Regina succinctly, watching just a flicker of confusion pass across his face. "Don't ask how I know, because we're both well aware of the fact I won't reveal my sources anymore than you would be willing to reveal yours."

"Agreed," he nodded once, that familiar smirk coming back to his lips. "Still doesn't explain why I'm here."

"You're here because I have a job for you, one I know you won't refuse," she smiled as close to evilly as could be imagined on a human being's face as she tossed a folder onto the desk in front of him.

It was reminiscent of her meeting with Belle, and she knew it. Her scare tactics had worked well enough with that young woman, no reason to think her old team-mate couldn't be played in just exactly the same way.

"You've been busy," he said flatly, finally sitting down to properly review the contents of the folder.

One packet of information outlined the role he was to take on in an almost unbelievably stupid con. The other sheaf of paper told of a job already in progress, with Belle shoved in the middle of the whole mess. If he was understanding this deal correctly, he was supposed to walk into his old friend's grift with one of his own, in an attempt to accelerate a dangerous situation into a worse one, with a view to bringing Robert Gold, notorious man of business, to his knees. If he refused, he had no doubt Belle would pay the price one way or the other. Worse, Regina could easily come after the innocent man that was his elderly father.

"So, Mr Booth, do you think you can handle my assignment?" Regina asked him, licking her lips almost as if she meant to be seductive.

"Of course," August told her with a forced smirk, getting to his feet in one swift movement and turning to leave. "I'd say it was a pleasure, Ms Mills, but you now how I do hate to tell lies."

_To Be Continued..._


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: A little more Rumbelle development, a little more unravelling of the plot... not necessarily in that order! ;)**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 11

In the last few weeks, Belle felt she had started to lose herself. It was easily done when one was on the grift for a long con, and it had been quite a while since she pulled a job this big. She spent Sunday being herself, Belinda French, the girl she used to be. She read her favourite childhood books and ate things that women watching their figure never should. She dressed in sweats and wore no make-up, and it felt good. By the end of the day she was smiling and everything felt right with the world. Unfortunately, when she took herself off to bed, her dreams proved she was so far removed from the innocent girl Belinda had been so long ago. Belle was certain that it was her determination not to dream of Gold that brought him to her mind at night. She would not even consider the fact that it meant she genuinely felt anything for him. That was impossible! Her plan was clear, to bring down Gold, and Regina too if she could, at least that had been the plan until she realised she might have been duped herself. It had occurred to her first that maybe he wasn't the bad guy in all this. After that, the thought came to Belle that maybe Regina and Gold were setting her up instead. Now she just felt confused, not only as to what she was doing anymore but who she even was in reality, hence the Sunday of being herself and doing only what she truly wanted to do.

Monday morning rolled around faster than it should. Belle woke early and wasn't sure she was glad about it. At least when she was awake she couldn't dream anymore, though a part of her yearned to do so. As bad as it was, it felt so good, and she couldn't shake the idea that if she did get that far with Gold, things could feel that intense and amazing.

"You're going crazy, Belle," she told herself as she got out of bed and headed for the bathroom.

Nobody was to be trusted right now, not any person surrounding Belle. Gold could be lying or telling the truth, he could be the black-hearted villain Regina spoke of or a veritable angel when compared to Ms Mills herself. The employees at Gold Industries seemed reasonable, pleasant, even friendly, but there was nothing to say which of them might be in cahoots with the boss or spying for Regina. The two business moguls could really be at war or just as easily in business together, with a view to squashing Belle and her old team like bugs before they could meddle any further in anyone's affairs.

Belle wished her team were here now. Working on her own had suited her in the beginning, but since joining up with David, Mary, and the others, it had got so much better. Now she missed them not being around, both because they made her job that much easier and because they had become her friends. She trusted them implicitly, they had all learnt to depend on each other, it was why the split came so hard.

Belle hadn't worked since. She could afford not to after the first heist the team pulled, but they had continued on as Robin Hood types until Mary fell pregnant and turned the whole plan to dust. They couldn't work around her having a child, and every job was a bigger risk as they became recognisable. The team broke apart, and Belle was okay with it in the beginning. She took a long vacation and relaxed, wondering how she might spend the rest of her time, what she might become if grifting was no longer an option. She travelled and tried out different personas, different occupations, but nothing stuck. Coming back to America had been a last resort in a lot of ways, as she tried to find her way. It was two days after arriving back here that Regina's men had nabbed her and this job had been set up. It gave Belle a direction at least, but not one she really wanted.

Stepping out of the shower, Belle wrapped the towel around her body and observed her own face in the mirror. She had to figure this out, how she was going to move forward in the job, at least. It ought to be easier than knowing where her whole life was headed, though even that question would need an answer eventually.

"Depends where the dice fall when it's over," she muttered to herself.

Belle knew that until she worked out who was the hero and who was the villain in this situation, she was never going to get out of it. Gold was getting closer to her, trusting her more. Before long she could get him to really open up, she was sure. Being a practised liar herself, Belle could usually spot one pretty easily. Once she had him falling in love with her and knew his game, she could make a real solid plan. In the meantime, Regina or her flunkies, whoever was physically watching Belle, would see her doing just what she had been told to do. It could work yet as a Step One on the long road to Belle's success.

"You're on your own, French" she told the reflection in the glass. "Time to prove you're as brave as you say you are."

* * *

Gold was only mildly surprised when he came into his office at seven in the morning and found a large top hat sitting on his desk. It was strange how punctual dishonest people could be, he thought, as he picked up the hat and turned it over in his hands.

"And here I was thinking that Hatter was a purely coincidental name," he mused.

"It's a purely _fictional_ name and you know it," said the man who had since appeared behind him, as if from nowhere at all.

He grabbed the hat from Gold's hands with a scowl on his face that was almost amusing to the businessman. Still, it was quite impressive how the top hat was flipped easily onto the boy's head, the way a magician would do it perhaps. He was a marvel at what he knew, that was for sure, but when he sat down in the nearest chair without even being offered to, Gold remembered why he found him so annoying.

"Now, how is this plan coming along, because I'm getting bored," he said, propping his feet up on the desk - immediately, Gold knocked them off again.

"The girl I suspected of being Regina's new threat isn't the one," he said succinctly as he perched himself on the edge of the desk.

"Really?" his young associate smirked. "You're sure?"

"Don't push me, boy," Gold snapped, pointing his cane in the boy's face though said boy never flinched "Your death may have been faked the first time, but an encore of more convincing proportions can always be arranged," threatened Gold, before letting his arm drop to his side again. "Now, do you have what I need from Regal Corp.?"

"Not yet," the boy shrugged, flipping his hat off his head, from hand to hand and back again. "Just because Regina, like the rest of the world, thinks I'm dead, doesn't mean she won't realise her mistake if she catches me in her offices. You think this is the first time I played both sides of the line?"

"I suppose not," considered Gold, "but since you appear to live only by one name, it is rather difficult to research what you have done, Jefferson."

"Therein lies the secret to my success," he replied, spreading his hands wide and smirking annoyingly once again. "So, who is this mysterious girl that might've been the mole but probably isn't?"

"We operate on a need to know basis here, and at this precise moment, you don't," said Gold with a smirk of his own, as he got back on his feet.

He folded his hands on top of his cane and wore such a look on his face as to make Jefferson realised he was being silently dismissed.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't try to help you," he complained as he too scrambled to his feet.

"Help me by getting what I need from Regal Corp. and be grateful I didn't ensure a far worse punishment for your considered drift to the wrong side of the line," said Gold through gritted teeth. "Now get going. The girls will be here within the hour and I want you gone. Don't want them thinking they're seeing a ghost."

Jefferson opened his mouth to say more but soon changed his mind. He was good at what he did, always had been, but Gold was one person he couldn't really afford to make angry right now. He was walking a very fine line, and there was an almighty drop to suffer if he slipped off it. Jefferson left without another word, and Gold breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

The girls in the office were all hard at work when Gold returned to his office. He had gone back up to the apartment just as soon as Jefferson left, feeling it was better for him to enter the office at his usual time. Arousing suspicion amongst his staff, even allowing them to see one anomaly in his movements, it just wasn't worth the risk right now.

Breezing in through the door in his usual air of authority, Gold wasn't surprised when Ruby turned and greeted him with a winning smile.

"Good morning, Mr Gold," she said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Ruby, ladies," he greeted her and then the others, his eyes lingering perhaps a little too long on Belle.

She smiled and said hello, but there was something not quite right. She looked awkward, embarrassed even, and Gold could understand it. They had shared quite the moment in his apartment, nothing inappropriate as such, but more like friends than employer/employee. He let it go and continued into his office. The crush of a young woman in his employ was neither here nor there to him, and it wasn't as if he had any evidence it even existed.

On Belle's part, she really hadn't meant to react in such a way to Gold's entrance. Unfortunately, her mind running riot with erotic dreams by night, and plans for the con by day, she felt all of a whirl. When Gold walked in she almost panicked that he knew just exactly what was going on inside her head, even if that was ridiculous in reality. She had to pull it together, she knew that, long before Ruby asked her if she was okay.

"I'm fine," she said quickly, forcing a smile on her face and a deep breath through her lungs. "Why would you ask that?"

"I don't know," her friend shrugged. "I just... well, you and Gold didn't have a fight, did you?" she checked. "I mean, he wasn't mean to you or anything?"

"No, of course not," Belle forced a light laugh as if the whole thing was preposterous. "Everything's fine," she insisted, as she carried on opening up all the mail laid out on her desk, each envelope personally addressed to Mr Gold.

Belle's eyes widened and her smile grew more genuine as she observed the card she now held in her hand. Here was an invitation, asking Mr Robert Gold and guest to attend a charity ball. She didn't really believe he was the giving type, but these events were so much more than what they seemed. A chance for networking, even an opportunity to make dodgy deals in an inconspicuous setting. There was every chance Gold would need to attend, and if he did, well, he would need a date.

Hurrying with the rest of the mail, Belle put all the letters that could actually be dealt with by other departments into her out tray for later delivery, then picked up the pile that Gold would need to read personally. She put the invitation to the ball firmly on the top of said pile and wore a genuinely bright smile as she tapped on the door then strolled happily into the boss' office.

"You are popular today, Mr Gold," she told him as she came towards the desk.

"I doubt that, Belle," he smiled slightly, "but thank you" he added, taking the letters and cards from her hand.

"I couldn't help but admire the printing on the invitation," she said. "I know it's probably not real gold, but its so beautiful," she smiled almost giddily, daring to perch on the edge of the desk. "Mind you, I have to wonder who spends so much on invites to an event to raise money for charity. The organisers could probably make a big enough donation themselves if they hadn't spent so much on the fancy cards and just emailed everyone."

Gold couldn't help but smile up at her, his naive little Belle.

"Trust me, dearie, George King can afford both the posh cards and the donation, plus a lot more besides," he told her, waving said card under her nose. "In any case, I rarely attend such events," he concluded, then tossing the same card aside.

"Oh, I thought those type of things were where people of business made their best deals, and all those important connections," she said, idly picking up the invitation. "Not that I've ever been to such a thing. I mean, a ball, a real proper one with men in tuxedos and women in fancy dresses," she mused, running her finger along the beautiful embossed gold lettering. "I expect its like the fairytales I read as a child."

Gold was mildly surprised to realise she was still there on the edge of his desk, gazing longingly at the card in her hand as if it were her own ticket to heaven. He didn't know quite what to make of her in that moment, and it was far from the first time.

"I didn't even get to go to my own prom," she sighed, propping the invitation up on the desk then.

"And why is that, Belle?" asked Gold, without even considering why he would.

"No-one asked me," she blushed prettily, getting back on her feet as if she only just realsied it might've been wrong of her to have sat down in the first place. "I wasn't half so confident back then. I was too afraid to go by myself," she smiled sadly, meeting Gold's eyes, " but you don't want to hear my life story. I should get back to work."

She was headed for the door, and suddenly Gold found himself calling for her to wait. A decision had quite made itself inside of himself, without him really having a chance to properly think it through. He would probably regret this, he was sure he would, and yet looking at Belle standing there, so beautiful and sweet, it was as if he had no control over the words spilling from his lips.

"Should you like to go to the ball, Belle?" he asked her, watching her eyes go wide.

"But Mr Gold, I... I don't understand," she floundered, clearly surprised by his offer.

"It's quite simple, dearie," he told her with a kind smile rarely seen on his face. "You made a quite convincing argument for my attendance to such an event. I'm sure it would do me good to network a little, and you know a man can hardly attend such a ball without a partner."

Belle was all enthusiasm and the brightest smile she had ever yet worn, Gold was certain of it. All at once he was promising her a new dress when she said she had nothing fit to wear, and trying to calm her before she attracted the attention of the whole building with her rapturous thanks.

Perhaps this really was a ridiculous decision on Gold's part, not least because Belle was half his age and his employee. Still, he wasn't exactly planning on a relationship of any kind beyond a reasonable type of friendship, and any single source he had tapped for information on Isabelle Hart had come back clean. She was far too sweet and innocent in so many ways, there was simply no way she was one of Regina's lackeys in disguise.

With all that considered, Gold was feeling that much more confident in his decision by the time Belle left his office, with a promise on her lips not to tell anyone else of their 'date' just yet, for fear of jealousy and rumour. He was doing a nice thing for a sweet young woman, a strange concept for Gold perhaps, but that didn't mean the unlikely selfless act hadn't put a smile on his lips that was unlikely to shift all day.

_To Be Continued..._


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I think this whole ball thing is going to go on for a few chapters. Lots and lots of developing Rumbelle scenes to come, reader peops! :)**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 12

Gold had a feeling he may have made a rather large mistake. It wouldn't be the first time in his life, and yet it was quite the rare occurrence these days. Every deal was carefully made, every decision considered to the nth degree. Robert Gold had not gotten where he was today by diving into things regardless of the consequences. He had not been so naive for many years now, not since he was young, foolish, and in love with an unworthy woman...

That path of thought led to no good, and he knew it. Gold threw his head back and gulped down the last of his scotch. Placing the crystal tumbler back on the desk, he watched the fading sunlight dance over the facets within it. Perhaps he was being as foolish now as he had been then, though he doubted such a thing were quite possible. Milah had been a singular woman, and these days Gold thanked the powers for it. One of her had been quite enough to deal with, and there was no coming back for that particular woman.

The newest female to cross Gold's path was Isabelle Hart. She was also a singular young woman, and yet so very different to his wife that had long since passed. Belle was beautiful, indeed there was no denying that she lived up to the French translation of her chosen name, but she was so much more than just a pretty face. Many a girl had passed though the offices of Gold Industries over the years, both here in the States and back home in the UK. Good looking girls were ten a penny, a real beauty that existed inside as well as out, such a woman was that much harder to find these days.

Belle was true of heart and lively of spirit. Such a description made her sound like she fell out of an Austen novel and Gold knew it, but that did not make it any the less true. She was just different to any other woman he knew, and hypnotising because of it. Gold was suspicious at first. Such a woman ought to be too good to be true, perfect for the job she applied for, pleasing to look at, polite in manners, and wholly without any real fault but for the way she tried a little too much to please.

It was last week when she had stayed late at the office, her world apparently having been turned upside down by a break up. Gold had taken her to his apartment and talked to her as an equal rather than an employee. The truth of her seemed to be revealed in that conversation, her determination and resolve. She had depended too much upon some past lover, and yet was determined to make her own way in the world, to not be told what she should or shouldn't be by anyone.

Belle was quite the contradiction, and that was what really had Gold intrigued. She was all the best traits of some demure young heroine, and at the same time a modern courageous girl, with a sense of humour and of purpose. She would make some young man excessively happy, and Gold caught himself scowling at that particular thought. Young; something he had not been in a while himself. From her records, Gold knew Belle to be almost precisely half his age. If nothing else made any connection between them inappropriate, that would. With his being her boss and barely knowing her added to the equation, it would be absurd for him to think of her as anything but a nice girl and an able employee.

Unfortunately for Gold, his subconscious was stronger than it ought to be and quite determined to keep a firm hold on Isabelle Hart. She haunted his dreams in ways he hardly dare think of when she was in the room. She had a way about her that seemed to draw him in to the point where he was saying and doing all kinds of ridiculous things without hardly meaning to. For example, inviting her to a charity ball that he himself had not even intended to go to!

The invitation lie on the desk still, taunting Gold. He had no real desire to attend such an event, making stilted conversation and smiling falsely at George King and his acquaintances. Gold's dancing ability was limited by his bad leg, even if he should want to go spinning around the ballroom, which of course he did not. There was a vague chance he might make a couple of useful deals or connections, but somehow he doubted it. Still, it felt all too late to take back his words to Belle now. He never saw a woman so excited about anything so frivolous before. To think a young woman of her age would be interested in going to some old-fashioned charity ball on the arm of an old man like him. It was ridiculous, laughable if Gold was the type to laugh much.

"You're a fool, Robert Gold," he told himself, moving to get up from his seat then.

He sat back down rather more quickly than intended as his knee protested. Sitting too long in one place never did him any favours and the clock on the opposite wall proclaimed it was more than an hour since his staff had gone home. All that time he had been sitting here contemplating, thinking of Belle and the strange power she seemed to have over him of late.

"Get a grip, man," he said to himself, forcing his limbs to cooperate and rising to his feet at last.

His mind soon twisted that particular phrase with the pictures of Belle that already danced between the gaps in his good sense. Oh, he would love to get a good grip of that young woman, but he would not. He had to be stronger and more sensible than allowing himself to fall into lust, nevermind love, with someone like her, or any one at all for that matter. Such a thing would be all but suicidal and Gold promised himself not to think about it anymore.

A few hours later, his subconscious would make a liar of him, as sleep overtook his body, and Belle once again overtook his mind.

* * *

Belle was feeling just a little bit too proud of herself when she arrived at work the next morning. Like any good grifter, she knew all about changing plans on the fly. When she worked as part of a team, David usually took the lead, and would always have no less than a dozen back ups built into any con. Still, he wasn't the only one who could think on his feet, and any one amongst them would call the play as needed in a sticky situation. Belle had changed her own plan yesterday on discovering the invitation to a charity ball. Getting Gold to take her along as his date shouldn't really have been so easy, and it even surprised Belle how effortlessly the man was swayed. Perhaps she had got under his skin more than even she realised. The trouble was, in the process of that, the infuriating man had got into her head!

The dreams would not go away. Last night she had gone to sleep with a mind full of plans for how the ball might play out, to the point where such plans had continued in her dreams. It was all so much like a fairytale, to the point where a night of glitter and dancing ended with a kiss. Belle had woken up more shocked by that than she ever had been by the more erotic of her dreams about Gold. There was such an innocence and sweetness to that kiss, and yet when the surprise of it subsided she had smiled. Perhaps it was a good omen, that the attraction she was manufacturing between herself and the mark was surely more than just physical. He was falling in love with her, she was sure that was what her subconscious mind had realised, though Belle quickly and definitely promised herself she still felt nothing, not a thing at all for Gold, in any way.

Belle walked into the office building with a spring in her step and a smile on her face. She greeted Ashley at the front desk and headed straight for the elevator, only to be called back at the last. Belle didn't just stop walking, she stopped breathing when she realised who had said her name. This whole con could be blown sky high if she didn't think fast. Putting the smile back on her face, she turned around on her heel and stared at the blonde coming towards her.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" she asked Emma with just a hint of panic shining through in her eyes.

The cop caught herself before she said anything else. It honestly hadn't occurred to her that she shouldn't just go blurting out the name of a gifter and thief in the middle of a public space, but she had been so startled to see Belle here. It seemed that was still her name somehow, though of course she couldn't ask about it. Emma looked left and right, realising only the girl on the reception desk seemed to have heard her say Belle's name anyway.

"Oh," Ashley leapt up. "Belle, this is Detective Emma Swan," she said with a smile. "I was telling her you'd be here before anybody else in Mr Gold's personal team. You always are."

Belle let out a breath she hardly knew she'd been holding and Emma allowed a small smile to curve her lips. The blond behind the desk clearly wasn't the smartest of girls, that worked out just fine. It was true enough that she had just been telling Emma that if she wanted to see the boss she'd have to go through either Ruby or Belle, and that the latter was usually first in of a morning. It explained how she had come to 'guess' her name, and that was a relief for everyone concerned.

"Yes, I always am here early," said Belle at length. "A pleasure to meet you, Detective Swan," she continued, shaking hands with the startled cop. "Did you need to see Mr Gold about something in particular, or shouldn't I be asking that?"

"Maybe there can be explanations on the way up to the office," Emma suggested with a look that said so much more than her words.

"Of course," nodded Belle, and led the way to the bank of elevators.

Even when they were inside the car alone, Emma didn't dare speak. She waited for Belle to give her some kind of cue, so as not to ruin things as she feared she already had a few moments ago. Much more was going on at Gold Industries than she ever could've suspected, that much was clear. Emma wanted to know all and yet she did not ask anything yet, not until they reached the top of the building and Belle encouraged her to follow her out of the elevator into the office.

"Did you know I was here?" she asked straight out, all serious expression and a steel edge to her tone.

"Belle, I had no idea," said Emma with a definite hand gesture and shake of her head. "There was a mugging down the street last night, I am only here to ask Gold if he might've seen or heard anything, and that is all," she promised.

Belle knew it was the truth. Of all people she knew in her life, Emma was one of the most honest. In the life of a thief, such a person was rare, but they did exist and here was one of them. Belle didn't automatically trust Emma because she was a police officer, on the contrary, there were plenty of dirty cops. She knew her from before, as a good friend of Mary, and as a client they had helped out in the beginning. Returning Henry to his mother, retrieving him from the clutches of Regina, it had been perhaps the team's greatest feat, certainly it had been one of them.

"Okay," Belle nodded once. "Just please don't give me away, Emma. I'm in so deep right now, if Gold were to realise who I was, if _anyone_ were to..."

"I'm not gonna blow your cover, Belle," Emma promise, perching herself on the edge of a desk. "God, after what you and the team did for me? I owe you everything."

"How is Henry?" asked Belle with a smile she couldn't help as she sat down in her usual seat.

"Growing fast," her old friend laughed lightly. "He's good, settling into life with his real Mom," she smiled then. "It was hard in the beginning but I've never been sorry that I asked Mary and you guys to help me get him back. My biggest mistake was almost losing him for good."

Belle was only too glad that she got to help. It was strange, after years of living for herself and making her way in the world as she saw fit, to turn everything around and start to help others. Now she couldn't imagine doing anything else, of using her skills for any other reason. Emma had been the start of her Robin Hood style adventure. Now that mission had been cruelly twisted against her, and by the first woman ever to be taken on by the team.

"I can't believe I ran into you like this. Are the rest of the team around?" asked Emma in a whisper, even though they were the only two here and clearly Belle considered it a safe place to talk. "I mean, I know you guys split but..."

"We're still split up," Belle agreed, looking just a little sad about it. "Mary and David have their baby now, and as for the others..." she shrugged her shoulders, having not seen them for a good long while.

"Really? Because the other day I saw this motorcycle, and I swear..." she stopped when she saw the look on Belle's face. "Probably not who I thought," smiled Emma, though it wasn't an entirely genuine expression. "So, how'd you end up here?" she asked then, clearly deciding a subject change was needed for both their sakes. "Are you conning Gold?"

"Supposed to be," Belle agreed, feeling strange even saying so.

The last thing she wanted to do was mention Regina. She didn't have the time to explain fully, and half an explanation could give Emma the wrong idea. If her cover was blown now, when she was making such progress, when she was carefully sitting between the rock and the hard place that were Regina and Gold respectively, she didn't even want to contemplate what the consequences might be.

"You don't sound so sure," Emma frowned at Belle, trying to meet her friend's eyes but she evaded every time. "Is something wrong?"

Belle opened her mouth to answer, unsure what exactly she even planned to say, be it the truth or just a twisted version of it. There was no lying to Emma, she always knew when something was wrong. Even Belle wouldn't risk trying to con the cop she knew so well, not that she would want to pull such tricks on a woman that had so easily become a friend. She was saved from having to say anything to Emma at all when the door swung open and Ruby walked in with Kathryn on her heels. Astrid wouldn't be far behind and even Gold would surely put in an appearance before long

Belle silenced Emma with a look and made brief introductions. It seemed Ruby had met the police officer before but the others hadn't. Emma was easy about explaining why she was here, because she had no reason not to be. She kept quiet on her connection with Belle, acting as if she only just met her today. Coffee was made and Ruby assured Emma that Gold would arrive any second. He had all internal meetings today so he would definitely be around and probably even earlier than usual.

Right on time, the door opened and in came the boss. Belle forced a smile that was that much harder to find in the circumstances, but no-one seemed to notice. Emma rose from her place perched on the edge of a desk and Ruby got up to introduce the police officer to Gold.

"Detective Swan, how very professional," he said as he shook the hand she offered. "Of course, I remember when you were simply Emma."

The blonde looked adequately startled and for herself Belle was genuinely intrigued. She looked between the two people standing in the centre of the office, wondering the same thing that Emma asked, how on earth Gold could know her and yet she did not know him, except by reputation.

"It was a long time ago, dearie, but I knew your parents, once upon a time. You were such a sweet fragile-looking child, and now such a pillar of strength in the community," he smiled in that way he had that always made Belle shiver, and not necessarily in a bad way, even when he wasn't looking at her. "But you're not here to drag up the past, you have a job to do," he continued speaking to Emma. "Shall we go into my office so you can ask your questions, Detective?" he suggested, gesturing for her to go ahead.

Gold followed behind Emma, stopping just for a moment by Belle's desk. His eyes looked sideways at her, barely a glance as he passed her a piece of folded paper.

"For your attention, Belle," he said crisply. "See to it that it's dealt with today."

"Yes, Mr Gold," she replied, bobbing her head in a nod.

Belle watched Gold and Emma disappear into the office, closing the door behind them, then let her gaze drop to the paper in her hand. She knew Ruby was watching her, waiting for her to explain what the note said. Belle would not tell her, she knew that before she ever unfolded the paper and read the words in Gold's own elegant hand.

"As if I don't have enough to do," she huffed like it was a terrible bother to her to be given another task. "Does he know there are only twenty four hours in a day, and that we don't have to work all of them?" she asked Ruby, rolling her eyes.

"Guess not," her friend shrugged, though the look on her face was dubious.

Gold never passed her notes with secret tasks on them. She was given extra errands for him sometimes, picking up dry cleaning or chasing down the brand of coffee he specifically wanted, though actually those calls hadn't come so much lately. When Gold needed one of them for anything, he called on Belle these days. Ruby wasn't so sure she was okay with that.

Belle knew her co-worker was getting suspicious, but there wasn't much she could do right now. She was forbidden from speaking of being Gold's date to the charity ball. That was not to be revealed until the night itself, at which point she was almost certain he was going to pass her off as either a much-needed assistant for the work he wished to do at the event, or simply last minute desperation. It didn't matter to Belle, the fact was she had a date with the mark, and she would charm him as easily as fairytale princesses charmed birds from trees. That was to be made even easier now Gold had given her a free pass to buy any dress and accessories she wanted on his own platinum credit card. It was hard to keep the wide smile off her face, but to her credit Belle did try. The thought of Emma in the inner office with the boss certainly helped quash her happiness. The cop was close to thirty, Belle knew that, and yet Gold knew her from when she was a babe in arms. He remembered so much, knew so much about people who barely had an idea about him. It made Belle just a little nervous. Gold did not claim to have known her before or seem to be working an angle at all, but then there was nothing to say he wasn't just playing her own game against her. This con never did get any more simple.

_To Be Continued..._


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Did anyone even notice my lack of update last week? Either way, I'm back, and we're headed to the ball! :)**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 13

"I still can't believe that Mr Gold is going to King's charity ball," said Ruby before taking a long sip of her coffee. "I mean, I've heard him on the phone before explaining why those things are ridiculous and a waste of people's time and effort."

"After what happened when the Mother Superior came in here asking for a donation, I would never mention charity to him again," said Astrid with a shake in her voice that sounded like genuine fear.

Belle didn't know what to say when she walked into the middle of such a conversation. Clearly Mr Gold was not in his office or the girls wouldn't dare to be having either an impromptu coffee break or talking about such a subject as this when he might just overhear. The way all three of them looked up when she walked in suggested to Belle they hadn't wanted to include her in their little chat either. It was strange how that stung just a little bit.

"I'm sorry," she said with a shake of her head. "Should I leave again?"

"Of course not," Kathryn smiled, though the look didn't seem entirely genuine. "You work here too," she added, casting a significant glance in Ruby's direction.

"Yeah, I'll get you a coffee and you can join in the fun," said her team-mate as she rose to fill Belle's usual cup. "I mean, you must have an opinion too, right? On why Gold suddenly wants to go to a ball of all places?"

"Perhaps he's just feeling charitable," said Belle easily as she put away her purse and jacket. "Or maybe he's just lonely?" she tried, pulling her desk chair over to join the others. "I mean he lives alone, and in a strange country. Any man would be lonely."

"Gold's not a man, he's... Gold," said Ruby with an undignified snort of laughter as she handed over Belle's coffee. "It's not like he dates or anything. I mean, he had a wife once, so they say, but now he's all old and stuff."

"Older people do date, Ruby," Kathryn rolled her eyes. "But I have to admit, I wasn't sure Mr Gold was the type to be... courting anybody," she said carefully.

Ruby chuckled into her cup at both the concept and the wording. Belle wondered if perhaps she ought to join in the poking fun at the boss just to keep herself in with these people, or was it best to play things a little differently.

"I don't think it's nice to laugh at a lonely man," she said with added sweetness. "After all, just because Mr Gold is older than us, he's not exactly ancient. I'm sure he wouldn't disgrace any woman that chose to be seen on his arm."

The other three shared pointed looks then. Belle was sure they were already thinking something was going on. None of them were stupid, not even the clumsy and naive Astrid could fail to realise that _something_ was amiss. If nothing else ought to make matters obvious, Belle being allowed to cut out for an hour this morning to get her hair done should have proved everything.

"Oh my God!" Ruby gasped at last. "It's you! _You're_ dating him! Eeeeew!"

Belle was all indignation at such a comment. She couldn't deny it, of course, and honestly she had no reason to. Gold had wanted it a secret up to a point so as not to start office gossip, but today was Friday, the day of the ball itself, and everyone would know the truth before long. Belle found she was mostly put out by the way Ruby found her alliance with Gold so disgusting. It wasn't just the character of Isabelle Hart that saw such a reaction as childish and insulting, it was Belinda French too.

"Ruby!" she gasped. "I'm not _dating_ Mr Gold" she said definitely. "He asked me to be his partner to the ball only because he intends to make a lot of deals there and it would be useful to have an assistant with him. Besides, I'm sure it would be very awkward to be the only single person at an event that will be all couples," she said in all apparent innocence.

Kathryn watched her with suspicious eyes a moment and then smiled.

"You're right, of course," she said eventually. "And even if you were dating Gold, or someone else of his age, I don't see what's so wrong with that," she shrugged, even as Ruby turned incredulous eyes upon her. "Love doesn't know age, it doesn't know any differences between people. You fall for whoever you fall for. The only real tragedy is when they don't fall with you."

Her looks and tone were sad at best and bitter at worst. She had known heart-break, Belle was sure, and unrequited love if she wasn't mistaken. That was the toughest kind, she knew that herself. It almost made Belle feel bad for toying with the feelings of others, even with playing Gold for a fool. She had to remind herself again and again that he must deserve all she was bringing down upon his head, and so did Regina. Without getting close to Gold she didn't stand a chance of turning this plan around on either of them. It had to be this way, whether she liked it or not. Increasingly, she really didn't like it at all.

"We should probably get back to work," she said eventually, turning back to her desk, hoping the others would take the hint and do the same.

It took a minute or two, but they did get back to their tasks before long and Belle let out a sigh of relief that she barely realised she'd been holding in. It didn't really matter to her if the employees of Gold Industries turned on her. Belle reminded herself that these people were not really her friends. This was a con, a trick upon them all, whether innocent or guilty. Of course, underneath it all, Belle was still a person with feelings. It was hard sometimes when playing a long game like this not to start caring what other people thought or felt about you. There was a pain involved in duping the innocent bystanders, however much you tried not to do it, and falling into the trap of caring too much.

Belle shook her head clear of all such thoughts and looked to her computer screen. The work she had left to do today was menial and simple, it wouldn't occupy her mind. Instead, as she moved through the usual daily office tasks, she let her thoughts wander to tonight, to the ball at which she must give such a fine performance. She would have to be in awe of everything, since she had told Gold quite particularly that she had never been to such an event, not even to her high school prom. That last part was at least true, but it wasn't because she hadn't been asked. It was painful to recall it now so Belle didn't try, just focused on the night out she was going to get, in a sparkling gown and costume jewellery, looking every inch the fairy princess on the arm of a most respected and even feared businessman. All she really had to worry about was being recognised, but then all the businessmen her team had dispatched before were still either on the run or languishing in jail. None that knew her ought to be present at such an event, and any that might have seen her face before ought to be fooled by her new look. She had been a blonde for the majority of the time she ran with her crew, and rarely if ever dressed as elegantly as she would tonight. She would be like Cinderella at the ball, all dark curls, smoky eyes, and a dress to echo her partner's name in stunning yellow-gold, nobody would suspect her real identity. Still, she didn't exactly expect to be swept of her feet by a handsome prince. On the contrary, she expected to be the one bowling Gold over, and making him fall hopelessly, helplessly in love with her.

* * *

Gold almost cancelled this whole evening six times today. He had been mulling it over for a full week and knew he certainly had been a fool in both agreeing to attend this charity ball, and in asking Isabelle Hart to accompany him. Still, every time he genuinely considered calling her up and telling her the whole thing was off, his heart clenched in his chest and he just couldn't go through with it.

In his minds eye, he saw her stood by the door to his office, wide eyed and smiling, brighter than the sun in that moment when he told her she might be his date to this occasion she saw as something from a fairytale. To make her so happy had made Gold himself smile far more than he usually would. Next thing he knew he was buying her an entire outfit, all she needed for the event they must attend. Such expense meant little to him really, still perhaps letting a young woman lose on the town's clothing stores with his no limit platinum card had been a bad decision. Strangely, it seemed Gold was just hard-wired to trust Isabelle Hart. He couldn't make sense of that. It was true enough that he had some faith in Ruby and Kathryn, even Astrid when it came to behaving properly and discreetly, but that trust had taken time to build. Belle exuded a good nature air, blended perfectly with every quality a confident young woman ought to have. If ever there were a perfect mix of damsel and heroine, it was her. It was why he had doubted her in the beginning. She seemed too good to be true, and yet, no amount of research turned up any evidence that she was more or less than she appeared.

Tonight would be a test as much as it was anything, and that could have a multitude of meanings as well, Gold thought, as he fastened his tie in front of the mirror. This ball would show off Belle to the world, on his arm no less. If anyone knew her, he would find out, if she had any kind of reputation for screwing over businessmen in any way, it would be revealed. At the same time, it might be good to see how the good people of town reacted to seeing him socially. It had been a long time since he ventured out in such a way, and he had his reasons, of course. Tonight was as much a test of his stamina for a night out as anything after too long out of practise! Keeping up with a woman half his age ought to be challenge enough, and when that particular woman was Belle; she may yet be the undoing of him.

Checking his appearance one more time in the glass, Gold moved his hair of his face and brushed lint from the shoulder of his suit. He looked down at his watch and realised now was time to go if he was going to pick up Belle and arrive fashionably late rather than ridiculously so.

Venturing the other side of town was not something Gold appreciated, especially in his highly polished Cadillac that was worth more than most of the houses he would pass on the way over there. Still, Belle ought not to keep him waiting long. She was a good and punctual young woman, he knew that at least.

It was a pleasant evening, so driving with the top down seemed sensible enough. Somehow Gold already knew that Belle wouldn't mind at all. She didn't seem the type to complain that her hairstyle was being ruined by the breeze or similar. Besides, even if she had a mind to, he would remind her he didn't have to bring her along tonight at all. He had done her a favour and she ought to be grateful. Of course, the ways in which Belle might show her gratitude dancing through his head almost made him crash the car before he arrived at her apartment block. Gold barely had a moment to regain his composure, and no time at all to climb out of the car when the front door opened and there she was.

Belle had been watching from the window. She knew Mr Gold was always punctual and also that he would not wish to be kept waiting. Just as soon as she saw his car making its way down the street she hurried down the steps as quickly as her high heels would allow. It was so long since she last got all dressed up, Belle had quite enjoyed herself. Of course she had to make herself look good for work, especially since she started trying to gain Gold's attention, but this was different. Balls, parties, big events, it had been too long after a great deal of time attending this kind of thing on almost a weekly basis. Thieves were usually at home in black cat-suits, hiding in the shadows, but grifters didn't have to sneak around finding entrances, they made them. Belle was at home looking like this, when she was working a con anyway. Right now she felt just like the fairytale princess she had spoken of to Gold, and wondered how he would react when he saw her. Belle was fairly certain she was carefully straddling the line between classy and sexy. If the look on Gold's face was anything to go by as he pulled up to the kerb beside her, she had got it exactly right.

"Well, aren't you a vision, Miss Hart," he said the moment he had shut off the engine and properly observed her.

"I don't know about that," she ducked her head as if terribly embarrassed by the compliment. "Just so long as I don't disgrace the good name of Gold Industries, I'll be happy," she smiled sweetly.

"Indeed you shall not do that," said Gold definitely, moving to get out of the car.

It was hard to take his eyes off her for a moment. The dress she wore might've been simply yellow, and yet when she shifted in the light, the material fairly glowed with a definite gold hue. The bodice was fitted to her shapely body, with a skirt that flared out a little to the floor. Belle's dark curls were piled on her head, save for a few strands falling down to frame her face. Unlike some women he had known, Gold noted she had not painted her face up like a china doll but applied the minimum of make-up so that her natural beauty shone through, and beautiful she most certainly was.

"Mr Gold, is something wrong?" she asked, snapping out of a daze he had hardly noticed he fell into. "You're staring at me and... well, is the dress not what you expected? Because I almost..."

"No, no," he waved a hand to dismiss her worries. "No, you do look very nice, Belle, I promise you. Beautiful in fact," he smiled, deciding he may as well tell the nervous creature the truth of the matter.

She blushed a pretty pink at the compliment and once again ducked her head, feeling oddly girlish. It ought to be acting, but honestly, much of it was genuine in this moment.

"Do not shy away from a compliment, dearie," he urged her, reaching a finger to raise her chin. "No woman on my arm should be so bashful. Indeed, you are never so lacking in confidence in the workplace, and this is a work-related function you know,"

"Yes, I know," she nodded then, feeling strange.

Gold never touched her like this before, not once. They didn't so much as shake hands at their first meeting, and though it was true enough that his arms had caught her when she faked a faint once, her body leaning against his all the way up to his apartment, this simple touch of his hand seemed to effect her so much more. Maybe it was simply the surprise of it, Belle couldn't be sure. Perhaps it was the intensity of his gaze as he looked down into her eyes that made her shiver, since the warm breeze that whipped by them then was surely not enough to do so alone.

"We should go then," said Gold all too suddenly, moving to open the car door and usher her into the Cadillac.

"Yes," she agreed, climbing in.

She arranged her skirts as Gold got in beside her and turned the key over, reigniting the engine which purred to life. Belle looked sideways at her escort and smiled.

"You look very smart you know," she said cautiously. "I mean, you always do, but... tonight in particular."

"Well, thank you, Belle," he replied graciously. "Now let us go, or the ball shall be over before we ever arrive!"

_To Be Continued..._


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: This chapter got a little loooonger than usual, but I doubt anyone will mind that ;)**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 14

The car ride to the ball had been made in silence. Honestly, for a quick-witted grifter, Belle was feeling like quite the dunce right now. It would just be so easy to forget, to let her mind wander and pretend tonight was real. Life would be an awful lot easier if she were simply an administrator for a large company and the boss was taking her out to a function tonight. Belle knew even then there would be issues to consider. Men that dated or slept with their assistants often got bored, dumped the girl, and fired her simultaneously. There would be talk amongst her co-workers, his business associates, they could both become a laughing stock. Still, it would be that much easier than what was really going on.

Belle never thought someone like Gold could be so oblivious. Honestly, at this point she almost wanted him to realise he was being conned, even though the consequences of that didn't bare thinking of either. He was a very intelligent man, but she was equally as good at what she did. She supposed with her altered records he never should be able to find out she was a fake, plus with all her years of experience she played her part very well. Belle ought to be glad he didn't think she was anything more than she appeared, but somehow it was of little or no comfort right now.

"Are you feeling alright, Belle?" he asked, as he pulled up the car outside the hotel.

It was only when he asked that she realised her deep thoughts and concerns had put a frown on her face. She blinked it all away and found a smile, not least because he seemed so concerned about her.

"I suppose I'm just nervous really," she half-lied. "All those people in there..."

"You shall not disgrace me, Belle, truly," he promised her, his hand briefly on her arm. "It is only a stupid charity ball and these are only people like you and I. They're not beasts and monsters to be slain," he smiled kindly.

It was moments such as these when Belle found it most difficult to remember that Gold himself was indeed such a monster, or at least he was supposed to be. With each passing day, she wondered more and more if the evil Regina had fabricated much of the rumour about Gold herself. It would make sense when Belle thought about it. Regina and Gold held the markets in their hands, almost half and half. With Gold out of the picture, Ms. Mills would be queen of all she surveyed. Belle couldn't believe she had been so stupid as to believe that Gold was that much worse than the head of Regal Corp. It was becoming increasingly obvious that the whole situation might well be reversed.

"Everything is so... I never saw so much finery in one place" she enthused then as they entered the building, Belle deciding that getting back into character was her best bet.

The more she let herself wonder on the legitimacy of this con, the less able she would be to complete it. She at least had to give the impression of wanting to complete this job, for fear of what Regina might do to those she loved if she failed. Belle was still trying to figure out how to turn this thing around and take that evil bitch out too. So far, not so good, and it didn't bare thinking about when she ought to be concentrating on the matter at hand.

This whole thing might've been made easier if Belle didn't have to constantly be on her guard. The ball would be crawling with business people, some she may have met before under another guise. She hoped her new look would see her through, and her ability to be convincing as a whole other person at a moments notice, but it was just a little worrying. She knew the moment they approached the main room that there was at least one here that would know her, though she was the last person who would ever want to blow Belle's cover.

"Come now, dearie," said Gold, picking up Belle's hand and looping it through his arm. "No need to be nervous,"

"I'm fine," she lied, trying not to lean on him too much, after all, he was already having to cope with her on one side and his cane on the other.

Fine went out the window as they headed into the lavish ball room and the very first person to approach them was the one Belle dreaded most.

"Robert!" cried Regina with too wide a smile. "Well, what a wonderful surprise! George did say you'd accepted the invitation but I must say I was dubious as to whether you'd actually be here," she rattled on, completely blanking Belle as she expected she might. "Of course, I know you can well afford the entry fee, but I also know how hard it is for you to find the time, or a suitable companion," she said then, finally casting her eye over Belle as if she were a bug under a microscope.

"Well, we're all getting older, Regina," Gold smiled too politely. "But you and I, we just seem to carry on regardless, don't we, dear?"

Belle wanted to laugh but daren't. She still wasn't sure what would happen now that she was officially meeting Regina in front of Gold. Still, it was fun to see them square up to one another and him to come off best! She was half expecting him to introduce her to Regina, which would be awkward, but she would've coped. As it was, he just swept them both right past the other woman without so much as a glance back. Belle was a little astonished.

"That was Regina Mills, wasn't it?" she said in all innocence, even now as she felt the other woman's eyes burning into her back.

"Aye, it was," Mr Gold agreed. "Miserable old witch," he muttered then, at which Belle bit her lip.

Perhaps she ought to have looked more shocked or something, but even her innocent girl act couldn't hold up against everything bad. Regina really was what Gold called her and it probably wasn't a stretch to believe a girl like her would find it funny to hear him say so. Forcing back a giggle proved harder than it should to the point where he noticed her reaction.

"I'm sorry, Belle," he apologised as they reached the far side of the room and the buffet table it held. "I'm afraid Ms Mills and I have been rivals a long time. She does not bring out the best in me."

"She doesn't seem as if she would bring out the best in anyone," said Belle kindly and truthfully too as it turned out. "Nobody seems eager to talk to her," she noted, looking back across the room the way they had come.

There was a definite void around the head of Regal Corp, with hardly anyone willing to go up and talk to Regina voluntarily. She was forced to approach others and even then they all seemed to flinch at the contact. Belle might feel sorry for her if she didn't have reasons enough to believe Regina deserved all that she got.

"You might notice as the evening wears on, Belle, that not a great many people want to talk to me either," Gold noted.

For some reason, that particular fact was far less amusing to Belle. She couldn't help but note the sadness and bitterness in Gold's tone somehow. Perhaps he really didn't always want to be so isolated, so very much feared that no-one dared to know him better. It worked well for a con, for a lonely man was that much more easily swayed into believing he was at last loved, and then to love back. Belle couldn't explain why her insides twisted up so uncomfortably when she thought about the way she was playing Gold right now. She would blame the tight bodice of her dress for such feelings tonight, even if she knew for certain she was lying to herself.

"Well, if everyone else is too afraid to come and speak to you, I'm certainly not," she said definitely. "You won't ever be lonely with me around," she promised, with a winning smile.

"Indeed not," he agreed, returning the look.

Belle noted he looked all the better with a smile on his lips, a real genuine, non-threatening smile the like of which she had rarely if ever seen on his face. Now that she did see it, she liked it very much. Perhaps this was the real man behind the mask he usually wore in front of others, when conducting business and the like. She wasn't sure yet, but tonight might be a good time to find out.

"Robert Gold!" a voice boomed his name, and both he and Belle turned quickly to see the host of the ball approaching them.

"George King," he replied as he faced the other businessman.

Belle watched the genuine smile she had been admiring twist back to that sinister grin she had seen too many times before. Gold did not like King, that much was entirely clear, which made it even more of a feat for her that she had convinced him to come to this event in particular. Strangely, Belle didn't feel like patting herself on the back right now, she just felt awkward as King came closer and shook Gold's free hand.

"It's been too long since you graced us with your presence, Gold," he told his fellow man of business. "Glad to see you."

"Indeed, George," he replied, extracting his hand as soon as he was able. "And of course I'd love to stay and chat but I see the dancing is beginning and I did promise Miss Hart here a turn about the floor."

Belle hadn't had a chance to get her bearings yet when suddenly she noted Gold was carefully resting his cane at the corner of the table and grasping her with one arm about her waist. He led her into the middle of the floor, a little more of his weight than usual leaning her way. This was going to be interesting.

"Um, are you sure you can..?" she started to ask, immediately regretting it when something akin to a growl emitted from Gold's throat.

"Just dance, Belle, don't ask questions," he told her with a tight smile.

The next thing she knew, Belle was being led around the floor by her partner in a waltz she recalled in a heartbeat from her youth. Yes, she had learnt all of these traditional dances a very long time ago, and they had come in handy over the years. How long she and Gold could hold each other up however, that was another question entirely. There were days he struggled to even walk, though today he hadn't seemed so very bad and tonight she was certain his cane had barely been touching the floor as they strolled across the ballroom. Perhaps he could manage one dance, though he was leaning her way quite a bit. Belle was strong enough, she could manage for now, though the closeness between them, borne out of the nature of the dance as well as his need for support, brought on feelings she wasn't expecting, that was for sure. Her mind exploded with pictures from her dreams, criss-crossed with the strange tingling feelings she got when he touched her earlier, when he smiled that particular smile.

"You dance beautifully, Belle," he told her as he turned her around once more.

"Thank you," she replied, swallowing hard, trying to concentrate only on the here and now, drumming into her own mind that this was a job, a con, nothing more. "I hardly expected you to be so light on your feet."

"Because of my age or my limp perhaps?" he asked her quickly, almost throwing Belle off.

She honestly hadn't meant for her words to be insulting in any way, but with all the thoughts already spinning in her head, every time he twirled her around she felt more and more giddy. The worry must have shown on her face for Gold immediately put her at ease.

"Relax, dearie, I'm only teasing you," he assured her. "I'm sure nobody here quite expected to see me dancing tonight, anymore than I expected to be doing it. Unfortunately, I was backed into a corner by George King. He is one of the most odious and ridiculous men I've ever come across in my life!"

Belle tried not to laugh but found it difficult. She had heard similar accounts of King herself, though she and her team had never come up against him directly. He was infinitely rich and successful but the vast majority of that seemed to have come from fair means. There was certainly no evidence to the contrary that she knew of, and so nobody ever asked her and the team to take him down.

"I am sure he is not as bad as you say," she defended him anyway, as her character would in such a moment. "A great many people might think you aren't the nicest person in the world, but I know how kind you can be," she smiled sweetly. "Thank you for bringing me here tonight. It's wonderful already, and we've only been here a short while."

It was a strange moment as he met her eyes then. Belle would've sworn Gold was going to kiss her if she wasn't hard-wired to know better. Of course that was the plan, he was supposed to fall in love with her, but to kiss her in a public place like this, she hardly thought it likely. What was worse was the realisation that she really did sort of want him to do it, just move in and capture her lips in a searing kiss. It was such a shame when it didn't happen, and Belle mentally slapped herself for thinking so!

Another couple seemed to come out of nowhere, narrowly missing a collision with Belle and Gold. The shock of it made him stumble and she all but had to catch him before he fell on top of her. The dance was done, not least because he was embarrassed and angry at what had occurred.

"Let's go and sit down," she suggested, trying to take his arm.

"For Gods sake, I'm not a child!" he growled at her, pulling his arm free of her grasp.

His ankle hurt like hell, and he ought to have known it would. What a foolish thing to do, spinning around the floor like a giddy teen. Belle was having him become an idiot for her, by design or otherwise, Gold couldn't be sure, but he didn't like it at all. Still, snapping at her was surely unfair. He tried not to stagger too much and got himself to a seat, thankfully in reaching distance of his cane.

"I am sorry," Belle told him as she came to sit beside him.

"It is not your fault, Belle," he assured her, sighing heavily, knowing being angry with her would be unfair and unwarranted in the extreme. "It was my stupid idea to dance, and it shall not happen again."

She was a little disappointed to hear that. For all the lies she told, much of Belle's character was routed in truth. She loved a ball, she loved to dance. Being in Gold's arms had felt so good and she was sure her plan for him to fall for her was working. Now he was in a bad mood and that was no good for anything.

In the time that followed, a few people wandered over to speak to Gold. Belle was grateful not to recognise any of these men and women of business, so all had to be either reasonably good people or very good at covering their tracks, she supposed. Gold was all business with them, hand-shakes and vague talk of deals to be made. Belle felt ridiculously bored. She was here to charm Gold, to make him believe he was falling in love. Now he barely wanted to look at her apparently, not even when he was introducing her to people. Even then she was his assistant and not his date. Belle felt stupidly put out by what she saw as an insult. Her eyes wandered around the room, to couples dancing, talking, laughing.

"If you wish to dance, Belle, go and do so," said Gold then, though she wasn't sure when he'd started paying attention to her again.

"I never..." she began to argue but just as soon as she glanced his way they both knew she was lying. "I wouldn't leave you alone like that," she said definitely, raising her chin. "Dancing is not so important to me."

"It is a ball, dear. It is expected," he told her, finding just a hint of that genuine smile she was starting to like too much. "I may not be able to participate, but many a young man here has been admiring you..."

"Of course they have," a voice broke though their conversation, and Belle tried not to react as she looked up to the source of it. "In fact you've given me the perfect opening, sir," he said to Gold with a grin. "May I ask your partner to dance?"

"Well, that is up to Belle herself," the older man replied, through gritted teeth though at present Belle failed to notice, her eyes stuck on the man before her, holding out a hand. "I am her employer but not her keeper. Belle?"

Her name being spoken seemed to bring her out of the daze she'd fallen into, and yet Belle could only nod dumbly as her hand was grasped firmly in the stranger's own and he whisked her away to dance. Of course, he ought to be a stranger to her and certainly would be to Gold, but she knew him all too well.

"What are you doing here?!" she hissed across at him, even as he took her into his arms and they began to dance.

"Is that any way to greet an old friend, Belle?" he smirked at her.

"August, you're not funny," she whispered what she would like to shout but feared to do so. "I want to know why you're here. Did you know I would be?"

"Of course I did," he told her, rolling his eyes. "It's all by design, Belle. I'm playing the same game you are."

Belle wasn't sure how to take those words. August always was a bit of a puzzle even when they were on the same team, working side by side. No matter what con they were pulling, she had a feeling his own agenda was in play. She trusted him to have her back in a crisis but there was always that element of wondering what he was thinking, what he might up and do out of the blue without warning. It made her uneasy then and the same now as he turned her out into a twirl and then pulled her close again.

"So, Emma did see you the other day," she smirked, getting a little of her own back, she knew, as she watched his expression show surprise. "I'm not sure she she'll be glad to realise it."

That made his smile fall into something akin to pain and Belle almost felt bad. Still, it was a little insane that the thief was in love with a cop of all people. Emma never really returned August's affection back in the day, though his constant flirting and gifts made his feelings very plain. Emma was in it with the team only as long as it took to get Henry back, that was always the deal. After that, she did let certain things slide where the Robin Hood style thieves were concerned, and never asked questions when they gave her leads. Still, she never did quite fall for the ever-present charm of the unlikely-named August W. Booth.

"You seem to be doing a decent job with Gold," he whispered across to her then. "Honestly, you play the part so well, I'm not sure why Regina was even worried."

That made Belle frown. So it wasn't just that August was here to con someone, he was here to con the same person as her. Regina had got to him too, and that made Belle more than a little wary.

"What's going on that I don't know about?" she asked suspiciously. "August?" she prompted when he only smiled.

"A twist in the plot," he replied with a wicked smirk. "Trust me, Belle, it's for the greater good," he promised, turning her in a final twirl. "Unless you really are falling for the old man?"

It was supposed to be a joke but when his eyes met Belle's own she realised he saw some truth in it. She made herself laugh on purpose and hurriedly denied everything in muttered tones just as the dance ended. She scrambled to get away from her old team-mate for fear of what had just happened here. She didn't love Gold, not even close, in fact she cared nothing for him at all, she told August as well as herself. Funny then that she just couldn't seem to drown out the voice in her head that called her a liar. She rushed back to Gold with a purpose, hoping against hope that she had done nothing to embarrass herself or make him suspect her. On the contrary, it seemed he had hardly been paying attention to her dance with August. Belle noted the retreating form of a man in a well-cut suit disappearing from Gold's side and back into the crowd as she approached. If she didn't know better, she would have said it was Killian Jones, but she knew how much Gold despised him. The business deal they had made a few weeks ago was only made because it must be, not because Gold had any wish for an association with such an untrustworthy wretch. He was such a schemer, even her old team had never quite found a way to go after him successfully.

"Is everything alright?" asked Belle as normally as she could manage whilst retaking her seat beside Gold.

"Of course, Belle," he replied too smoothly as he handed her a glass of champagne and sipped at his own. "Everything is absolutely fine."

_To Be Continued..._


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: The last part of the ball, but not necessarily the end of the 'date' ;)**

_**(For disclaimer, etc - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 15

Belle was so very uncomfortable. She could usually grift her way through any given situation, feeling as comfortable in the skin of a character as she would in her own. Tonight had started out that way but had quickly fallen into something else. She couldn't concentrate and was starting to flinch at the slightest thing. She was going to blow her cover before long if she wasn't careful. Gold had to notice how nervous she was being, though he would have no clue as to her very good reasons. Between the presence of both Regina and August, the suspected conversation between Gold and Jones, and her own inability to properly deny any feelings for the mark, Belle just wasn't having a good time, and her job was made increasingly difficult by every one of these factors.

"Are you quite well, dearie?" Gold asked her as he returned to her side.

He had been talking with a couple of business associates, neither of which Belle had an urge to face. She had conned so many, it was not worth the risk of getting close to anyone who may have once been a target of her team or even a friend of an old mark. She would rather stay in her corner, out of sight right now.

"Yes!" she replied too sharply. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I only asked a question," he told her, his own voice turning to steel in an instant. "You might remember I brought you here for your own pleasure and at considerable expense to myself. Such thoughts might lead to you moderating your tone, Miss Hart."

Belle bit her lip, drew in a calming breath, and managed to find a smile as she let it out.

"I'm sorry," she apologised, all sweetness and light once again in an instant. "I suppose it's just so overwhelming for me. There are so many people and... and I suppose I feel a little judged."

"Now why would you feel judged, Belle?" asked Gold as he sat down beside her. "You are by far the most beautiful woman in the room."

There was that intensity to his gaze again that quite hypnotised poor Belle. Her plan was working, he was falling for her and that was good, but she couldn't account for the way her own heart sped or her thoughts turned fuzzy when he looked at her like that. August was wrong, she wasn't in love. That was never part of the plan, and yet...

"Thank you," she forced out eventually, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks and hating it. "But I'm not like these people. I'm just a girl who works in an office, _your_ office, and... and you know what some people will think," she said, looking down at her own hands in her lap.

Of course he knew. Gold wasn't stupid and he must have known when he invited Belle to this ball what some people might think. A young woman half his age and beautiful, the newest member of his staff. Not that he was the lecherous being some would make him out to be, but they would think it. Gold had vowed not to care about such things, but he hadn't thought of Belle in all this. These days not much thought was put into a young lady's reputation. Most didn't care what the world thought of them, what rumours might abound. Gold knew Belle was different, or he ought to have known, ought to have considered all this long before he asked her to accompany him here tonight.

"Belle, I'm sorry," he said, his hand on hers making her look up fast. "I hadn't honestly considered the effect that rumours and such might have on you. Forgive a silly old fool?" he urged her with a small smile.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," she sighed then. "You're not old, and you're certainly not foolish," she assured him. "Maybe neither of us really thought this through beyond the fun of a night out, but it's okay. I'm sure my reputation will survive," she smiled sweetly.

The smile started wavering the moment she noticed the new arrivals at the ball. George King was walking back into the hall with various people in tow, some with cameras. There was no doubt in Belle's mind who they were - the press. Of course, a big charity event like this required publicity, not just before but during and after too. King wasn't just helping the needy, he wanted to appear gallant, generous, and wonderful to all that knew him or might be interested in his business. If the press started taking pictures, if she should end up in a newspaper or magazine, Belle knew she was blown.

"Mr Gold, would you be very angry with me if I said I'd like to leave now?" she asked as sweetly as she could, trying desperately to keep the panic out of her tone.

"Not angry at all, dear," he assured her. "I must say I am surprised, Belle, but not angry. I thought this was somewhat of a dream for you?"

"Ah, but like many a dream or fantasy, Mr Gold, the reality does not quite measure up to expectation," she told him, though her smile remained, her eyes were trained on the press across the room.

"Indeed," he seemed to agree with her and was quick to stand up beside her and follow towards the door to leave.

Of course, Gold was more interested in keeping his focus on anything but the way Belle spoke of dreams and fantasies. It only served to remind him of a couple of nights spent inside his own mind, with this beautiful woman in his arms. It was the most ridiculous situation. Not that it was so very shocking for a man to find a woman like her attractive, but he was scarcely ever so much moved by someone as he was by Belle as to conjure her in his dreams. She was a singular person, he had often thought it, and never more so than tonight in all her beauty and elegance.

Perhaps this was why he never considered her reputation in all this. Belle never seemed to care much what people thought. She was stronger than she sometimes appeared, even if her resolve did crack on occasion, in private. Gold felt privileged that she allowed him to see all sides of herself, whether she had meant to do it or not. He was not so free with the truth or his private thoughts and feelings, and always thought he was better off for it. Yet with Belle, he was almost willing to let his guard down a little.

Had he not just told her she was the most beautiful woman at the ball? It was as shocking for Gold to hear himself say it as it was for Belle to hear, he was certain. He really wasn't that person, hadn't been for years, not since his heart was thoroughly torn out by another. He liked women, of course he did. He found them attractive and did not at all mind their company when the fit took him, but a relationship, falling in love, these were fanciful things for young people that Gold considered himself incapable of now. The more time he spent with Belle, the more he got to know her, the more the little voices in his heart and head chorused that he was a liar.

"Oh, it's suddenly as if I can breathe again," admitted Belle as they stood together on the sidewalk at last. "Do you not find all those people intimidating?" she asked, immediately laughing at her own naivete. "No, of course you don't, you're used to it."

"You would think so, wouldn't you?" he replied, looking down at the ground, his shoes suddenly very interesting apparently. "Honestly, Belle, company in such large amounts is not really my idea of fun. There are few that wish to talk to me in there, and quite frankly, even less I would want to engage in conversation. I should much rather talk to you than anyone else," he confessed.

Once again the words had tumbled from his lips without any real thought to them, and it was almost frightening how easily it happened. If Belle was startled she didn't show it, just smiled and blushed as any young woman being complimented might. Though it had been said without thinking, the words Gold spoke were still perfectly true. He really would be infinitely more comfortable alone with Belle than at the ball, even if the two of them without company meant his mind might meander. He was old enough and smart enough to control himself, to not let his hands wander where his mind tended. Poor Belle, she would not want that, he was certain.

For her part, Belle wasn't sure how to react. She was trying to make Gold fall in love with her and ought to be glad it was working, yet every time he paid her a compliment or fixed her with one of his most intense gazes, her concentration crumbled. This character she was playing, she had to hold on to it, but more and more the real Belinda French was slipping through. It was becoming increasingly difficult to remember what she was here for, to now allow herself to start falling along with the mark. She had assured him not ten minutes ago that he was not so foolish as he seemed to believe, but about herself, Belle could not be so sure. She surely was a complete idiot if she carried on like this, allowing herself to get swept up in this entirely faked relationship, and yet Gold was making it increasingly difficult to resist.

'Stick to the task at hand, French,' she told herself sternly as she watched Gold walk away to get his car fetched around by the valet.

Belle repeated these words over and over that he was a mark, that he was a bad man, that she ought to hate him, but Gold just showed no sign of being anything but rich and occasionally bad-tempered. These were not crimes, and he couldn't be this evil monster Regina painted him as, Belle was so sure of that now.

"Are you hungry?" she found herself asking suddenly. "I was just thinking, we didn't get to eat much at the ball, and there's a diner not far from here…"

"A diner?" asked Mr Gold in apparent shock. "You want to go to a diner dressed like this?" he asked with an amused expression that made her grin – she did so love when he smiled genuinely like that.

"Why not?" she shrugged. "Enough people stared at me in the place where I was supposed to fit in wearing this dress," she reminded him. "What's a few more in the most unlikely of places for a ball gown?"

She really was a marvel. A confusing, beautiful, exasperating marvel, and Gold loved that. He loved her on some level he could never explain and would certainly never confess to, and the realisation of it rooted him to the spot for what felt like fully ten minutes, though in reality could not have been more than one.

"So, are you hungry?" Belle repeated when Gold was quiet too long.

"Er, yes," he said at last, shaking his head to clear the jumble of thoughts that had settled there. "Yes, I suppose I am."

He moved to open the car door for Belle but swiftly changed his mind. She frowned at him, just a little startled when he led her by the wrist to the other side and opened the driver's door instead.

"You have a license, do you not?" he asked her, watching her nod dumbly. "Then you shall drive, if you like. After all, you know where this diner is and I am in the dark."

His smile was forced now, awkward even, and Belle knew it. She wondered what his real reason was for having her drive, but didn't let it show on her face. It wouldn't do to allow him to read her as easily as she was reading him after all. She had to stay in control of this situation and not allow it to overcome her.

Belle strapped herself into the driver's seat of Gold's Cadillac, thinking how it was easier said than done to keep herself on top of this situation. Sat this close to Gold she soon realised that thought of being on top were not helping her think straight at all.

"Are we going, Belle?" he asked when she sat staring too long and made no attempt to start the car or even take the keys he still held out to her.

"Oh, um, yes, Mr Gold," she answered like a reflex as she took the keys then.

She stilled half way to starting to engine when she realised what she had done. This was all but a date and she was still calling Gold by his formal name. Though both her real self and her persona knew his first name, Belle had never once used it.

"I think in this situation, it might be quite suitable for you to call me Robert, if you would like," he said kindly as she glanced sideways at him.

"Robert," she repeated, as if testing out the sound of it. "Yes, I like Robert," she told him, with a deliberately coquettish smile.

A moment later, Belle put the car in gear and pulled away from the kerb, driving them to their next destination. For now, she felt in control.

_To Be Continued..._


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Belle thought she could handle this con, didn't she? Um, not so much... ;)**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 16

"Mr Gold, are you staring at me like that with a purpose?" asked Belle, peering over the top of her menu.

They were sat either side of a booth in the back corner of a fifties style diner that Belle had visited a couple of times before. She knew it was a safe spot, she had only ever been here as Isabelle Hart, once was even with Ruby in tow, so she had no worries about being busted. Gold had been so quiet in the car on the way over, too quiet and thoughtful, and it made Belle just a little nervous. She played it pretty cool, like a nervous virgin on a date more than the grifter afraid of being caught. It ought to work, if she could just get back inside Gold's head and figure out what on earth he was thinking.

"I'm sorry," he apologised, putting his eyes back to his own menu, without an idea of what he would order in such a place as this – it was hardly his usual style.

Belle took her turn at observing him over her own menu then, getting an idea. She needed to get this con back on track, and having Gold fall for her was only a part of that. Getting him talking, finding his weak spots, that was another avenue to be explored. This might be the best opportunity she ever got and she didn't have to feel bad about it. If she could dig up no real dirt, she would prove to herself he really didn't deserve conning, get his trust, maybe even get him on-side to turn things around on Regina. It was for his own good as much as hers, at least that was what Belle told herself, right before the waitress came over to take their order. Two hamburgers with fries and soda were duly noted down and would be with them shortly apparently.

"I'm sure this isn't what you're used to," said Belle as soon as the waitress was gone. "A diner like this must be the last place you'd usually choose to eat."

"Perhaps," he agreed. "But that is not to say I won't like it now I'm here."

Belle smiled brightly at his apparent enthusiasm.

"I hope you will," she replied easily. "I picture you more as a posh restaurant type though. Do you go out to eat a lot?" she asked conversationally, already pretty sure of the answer.

It was no surprise when he said no. She had been told by Ruby and the others girls in the office how Gold was not really a social animal. Though he could afford swanky nights out, he hardly ever seemed to go on them, just holing up in his apartment or town house alone. It was sad to Belle that any person, good or bad, would not want to share their life, but then she also knew that Gold did share his wealth and his world once upon a time.

"I really haven't been much for regular eating out since my wife and I... well, it was a long time ago," he said then, once again looking down.

He did that every time he talked about the past. It made Belle wonder what skeletons lived in his closet, if any evil he had done was long ago at the start of his business perhaps. Maybe Regina knew something about that, or suspected. The other half of Belle was inclined to believe Gold had his heart broken by this wife of his, and that was what made him seem so cold, so angry. There was only one way to find out.

"I admit, I knew you had a wife, and a son too," she told him then. "I'm afraid all people are gossiped about in an office, from the boss at the top to the drudges at the bottom," she sighed. "I should like to know the truth about you though, from the source, as it were... or am I being too nosy?" she laughed lightly at her own gall, but Gold didn't seem annoyed at all.

"Not much to tell really," he shrugged easily. "I was married, but my wife was... well, Milah was unfaithful. She left myself and Baelfire when he was still small, and since then she died," he finished rather more quickly than he had begun, clearing his throat and shifting awkwardly under Belle's gaze. "In any case, such things are not important now."

"I'm sorry," she sympathised with his pain and loss, letting her hand find his on the table. "That must have been difficult for you, being left alone to raise your son, but... well, he's still out there in the world somewhere, right? Do you see him?"

"Not for several years now," said Gold with a sad smile. "Bae was always a very headstrong boy. A good soul but... but where we lived in Scotland was too remote, too lonely, and I worked a great deal. In part, I believe he blamed me for his mother's going, and perhaps he was right to. In any case, he wanted to see the world and so he left just as soon as he could."

Belle felt sick. Gold's tale was sad to tell and to hear but she might've borne it better if she could make it a lie. He seemed genuine and serious in all his looks, plus so very deeply sad and pained. Nobody was this good of an actor, Belle was certain of it, and she had known the very best. Hell, she was one of the very best, and to her Gold was being completely real in this moment. His wife really had left him and since died, then his son had abandoned him too. Perhaps at least some of it was his own fault, there was no real way to know, but even if that were the case, he clearly felt sorry for it. It was enough to break Belle's heart if she let it.

"You are a good girl, Belle," Gold said then, turning his hand over on the table to clasp her own. "Too good perhaps to be lending an ear to a man like me."

"I'm hardly a girl, Mr Gold," she smiled, squeezing his hand. "I shall admit to being a little younger than you, but I am a woman of the world."

Perhaps it was the words, or just the way she said them. Maybe it was the way she was gripping his hand and staring into his eyes, but Gold would've sworn he couldn't breathe for a moment. It was both a blessing and a curse when the waitress suddenly appeared with their food and broke the magic spell that seemed to have settled all around them. Without question this was one of the strangest nights of Robert Gold's life, and yet he would not change it for the world.

* * *

The night wore on in much the same way as it had begun when they first stepped into the diner. Their time at the ball was all but forgotten as Belle showed interest in the real Robert Gold and he duly revealed all that she wished to know. Perhaps that made him a fool, but honestly, he hardly knew he was being so open until he was in the middle of divulging everything. Belle was just so easy to talk to, so understanding and sweet. Besides, Gold reasoned, there was little he was really saying that a determined person couldn't find. His enemies would research him completely to find some flaw, some loophole they might exploit. Not only could Belle never be accused of being such a person, Gold thought, but more than that, he could not see her being capable of using anything he said here to her advantage, not even to look clever in front of her work-mates. She must genuinely care, he supposed, though it was such a long time since anyone, especially a woman, had ever paid him any mind in such a way, Gold could scarce understand it.

"And what about you, dearie?" he had said when he realised perhaps a little too much of his own past had been revealed. "I feel I know so little in comparison to what I have told you. Where does Isabelle Hart come from? What is she truly like?" he asked with a smile.

She had smiled back sweetly and assured him there was not much of interest to share. Nevertheless, she had begun to spill out information he might find interesting. As she always did, Belle pulled on stories she knew well, based in truth more often than not, or built upon well-practised lies from her other characters. She had a terrific memory for stories and it helped a lot in her work as a grifter. Keeping her characters straight was vital or she risked landing herself in very hot water.

Honestly, Belle found herself being just a little more free with the truth than she meant to be, especially when prompted to discuss tales from her younger days, her childhood and family. Mr Gold, or Robert, as he insisted she call him tonight, listened intently, smiling at her jokes and sympathising with her pain. It was so real, so without pretensions or trickery, Belle got quite lost in some of the moments that passed between them. She could completely imagine herself to be a young woman out on a date with a charming man, just falling in love. It was so difficult to make herself remember that was not the truth at all, especially when he was being such a gentleman. Gold insisted on paying for their food, opened the diner door to let Belle out, and again at the car to allow her in.

Driving home, it seemed like a perfect night. Though it was completely dark now, the moon was full and bright above them, the breeze cool but pleasant as it rushed by. Belle was happily fed, comfortable in her leather seat, and content to hum along to the music the radio provided without hardly realising she was doing it.

Gold tried not to smile too much as he glanced sideways at his companion. She was as beautiful now as when he picked her up from her apartment hours before, perhaps even more so. He knew her better now than ever before, and he liked her all the better for it. Belle was not just beautiful on the outside, but on the inside where it counted. That ought to be one more reason for him to back off, one more way in which they were so different, so at odds with each other. On the contrary, it made him want her more, however wrong he knew the attraction had to be. She could never feel the same, he was sure of it, and yet she seemed to be encouraging him.

Gold almost laughed at himself as he realised how stupid he was being. He had been single and alone far too long, he had started to read things into signs that were barely there. Belle was here tonight to attend a ball the like of which she had never seen before. They left because she was uncomfortable and came to the diner because she was hungry. She showed an interest in him because any person given a chance to cross-examine the boss was always going to take it. True, she was friendly and sweet enough, but surely Belle was like that with everyone. Gold must not allow himself to believe she was in any way interested in him romantically, or perish the thought sexually. He may be the rich and powerful one out of the two of them, but Belle was very much out of his league in every other way.

It was strange how Belle felt startled when the car stopped outside the apartment block where she lived. She had hardly noticed they were there, she was just so comfortable and content. Plus her mind had been wandering back over the events of the evening, not the details that might matter to some, but everything that had to do with Gold, the things he had said, the significant looks he had given her. The dance they shared sprang to mind, his compliments on her dress, her looks, and her manners, and the way he looked at her as he divulged the truth of his wife and son's fates. If she hadn't been sure before that she was playing an innocent man in this con, she was now.

Gold opened the car door and Belle eased herself out, with thanks to him for his unwavering gentlemanly ways, and for the evening as a whole.

"It was my pleasure, Belle," he told her, the two of them stood facing each other on the pavement now.

They were oddly close now that Belle thought about it, but she wasn't going to move, even if being this far into Gold's personal space was giving her the shakes. She was a professional, she ought to be able to control herself, and yet within touching distance of those hands that had held her so firmly when they danced, it made her swallow hard and quite forget herself.

On his part, Robert Gold wasn't sure which way to turn, and found nothing suited him in this moment but to stand and stare at the wonder that was Belle. When friends parted from an evenings shared company they shook hands. With family there were hugs, perhaps a kiss on the cheek. Couples parted with longing to stay, lingering kisses, and such that he dare not contemplate. There were no people like himself and Belle, odd as they were in their relationship. He was her employer, and yet he did not look upon her as simply one of his administration staff. She was so very much more, and this had been more of a date than anything, despite the fact he would not dare to label it as such.

"Goodnight, Robert," she said softly, his given name from her lips still a surprise even though it was invited.

Thoughts ran unbidden through Gold's head when Belle's fingers brushed his shoulder. Just a little contact and his name spoken in such a whisper had him imaging all kinds of ends to this night that he knew could never be, and yet the pictures danced in glorious Technicolor inside his mind. He swallowed hard.

"Goodnight, Belle," he made himself reply, leaning in a little closer.

He was going to kiss her, and they both knew it. Belle was ready for the moment, almost allowing her eyes to fall shut as she prepared for contact, but at the last she knew she could not bear it. In a flash, she turned away and ran, straight in through the door and up the stairs like a startled animal, leaving Gold alone to wonder what on Earth just happened.

Upstairs, Belle reached her own apartment and rushed inside. Immediately, she slammed the door shut and put her back to it, trying in vain to catch her breath. She ached with a want for Gold to kiss her, and they had come so close. She just couldn't allow it to happen, not like this, not when she was playing him so cruelly. He would be imparting a kiss of love. She could see it stirring in his deep soulful eyes, and it struck her like a bolt through her heart. Belle could not return it, not when her whole existence in his life was a lie, even if she did know there would be love on her side of that kiss too.

"You stupid girl!" she cursed herself, slamming a fist back against the door so hard her every digit stung.

Sinking down to the floor, Belle hugged her knees into her chest, feeling sick. Everything was ruined. Gold was falling in love with her, just as planned, but at the same time she had started to fall for him too, and now it was too late. She cared far too much to complete the job, and if she told the truth she dreaded what she really stood to lose.

Finally, Belle allowed herself to do something she had not genuinely indulged in for years; she cried like her heart would break. In all honesty, that was how it felt inside right now, and she could see no way out of this awful mess.

_To Be Continued..._


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Apologies for the delay in posting this next chapter. I got distracted plus my beta was away, but I'm back now and ready for lots of Rumbelle writing - yup, I have now seen all of Season 2 and I'm completely OUAT energised! lol**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 17

The weekend felt long and Belle wished she could escape the torment of it. Being alone with only her thoughts was not helping at all, and even in sleep, Robert Gold invaded her mind. If he had only turned out to be the bad guy in all this. That was supposed to be his role, after all, but no, Regina had embellished the truth into something wicked. It actually seemed Gold's only real crimes were being rich and powerful. He wasn't a saint, of course. As with most men in his position, he had doubtless performed the odd 'dodgy deal' to get him where he was today, but probably nothing of any consequence. The richest of men screwed each other over, and Belle couldn't find it in her to care. These kind of people could afford minor losses, and she had caused a few in her time. So far she could see Gold being guilty of nothing more or less than she herself could be accused of in her darker past. He was not a monster, but a man. More than that, he was the man she was far too easily falling in love with.

Belle still couldn't imagine how such a thing could have happened. Her history with men was rocky at best. Her first serious relationship had been her last in a lot of ways. Gaston Rose was perfectly good-looking and nice enough to her in the beginning. She had been sort of smitten, truth be told, and her father had liked him a lot. Sweet little Belinda French would do anything to please her Papa, and it had seemed ideal that she should fall in love with a man he liked so much, who worked hard for him and was always polite and kind. Everything should have worked out perfectly, but life was not a fairytale and Belle learnt that the hard way.

It was when her father was first taken ill. His heart wasn't what it used to be and the first attack really knocked him for six. The doctors were confident of a full recovery, but in the meantime, Gaston was left to run the business alongside Belle. She was seventeen, but she was smart, and her father had taught her very well. Still, Gaston would not hear of her assisting and took everything upon himself. The business almost went under in his hands and whenever Belle tried to intervene he spoke down to her like a backward child.

The whole situation had resulted in Belle's very first con. Pulling such tricks against Gaston was risky but she was so very proud of herself when she managed to prove to her father that his apprentice was completely incompetent in business, even if she had embellished quite a bit. She'd had nothing to lose by then. Belle had already figured out that Gaston was cheating on her, and all this whilst continually trying to control her. It was too much and the relationship was soon severed forever.

The thrill of the con was what got Belle through the break up. Though she had been glad to be rid of her ex in many ways, she felt a little lost and alone without him by her side. They had been friends for years and then a couple. Then there was a gap where he used to be and she filled it with petty crime, not just because she loved the thrill but for a real reason too - dear Papa.

Though they kept the business afloat, Belle's father was not doing well with his health by then. One heart attack became two and three. He couldn't work hardly at all and the staff started taking advantage. Belle had to supplement their income somehow and there was no way for a girl of not-quite eighteen to get a decent paying job - she wasn't even out of high school then! Petty crimes got bigger, cons that she just seemed to have a knack for, and then one day, she got caught.

When her father came to pay her bail and bring her home, Belle was so ashamed. He asked her if she had ever done such a thing before and Belle found herself confessing all in tears and sorrow. It didn't help. With his ailing health, a nurse that was clearly angling to be the second Mrs French, and now Belle in trouble, her father just could not take anymore. He sent her away and for the sake of keeping the peace, Belle left. She kept tabs on her dear Papa, and by some miracle he was still alive to this day, though she had never seen him again. She sent money to pay medical bills she knew he struggled with, quiet donations that he would never know the source of. Belle thought of her father now and forced herself not to shed anymore tears. She had loved no man since her dear Papa and the treacherous Gaston, not until now.

Dating was fun, especially on cons. Belle could be whoever she wanted to be, and charm almost any man she chose. Just flirting was delicious when she felt like it, and she had been on a few dates, shared a few nights. None of it really meant anything, in her line of work it couldn't afford to. Seeing Mary and David fall in love, it proved how awkward things could get, how much a romantic relationship could ruin a perfectly good team. Belle couldn't blame them, since she knew it was impossible to control who you fall in love with. If you could, she certainly wouldn't have chosen Robert Gold.

You never fall for the mark, it was rule number one. Belle had only ever been tempted once before and that wasn't entirely her fault. Philip Prince had been quite the charmer and it had been a long con. If he had tried to sweep her off her feet, she might've let him, but he was already in love and engaged to be married. She wouldn't spoil that, especially not when her task was simply to distract the guy whilst the main mark was slowly destroyed. Philip wasn't a bad guy, not really, as it seemed Gold was not.

Belle put her hands over her face a moment and tried to force away the building headache. She hated the situation she had got herself into and wished she could just run away right now, but it was all too late. To tell Regina she was dropping out of the con put those she loved most in danger. To tell Gold everything meant risking herself and others, plus her already aching heart when she was unsure how either of them truly felt yet. To simply run... the consequences became double and worse.

In this particular predicament, there wasn't even anyone Belle could call or turn to in the hopes of talking it thorough. She wished Mary and David hadn't gone away, that she could still contact any member of her team in safety. That was the point when she recalled a presence at Friday night's charity ball that she'd sooner forget.

"August," she said to herself, wondering what he was doing here, what exactly his part of the con entailed.

Regina clearly thought Belle wasn't working fast enough on Gold and had sent in an old member of her crew as reinforcement. August was getting paid a pretty penny, she had no doubt, or perhaps Regina had threatened him too. Either way, he would have to keep up his end of the bargain or risk losing too much. Now Belle was just left to wonder what part he would play.

"The Lost Heir," she said too suddenly, sitting up sharply in her seat.

Her brain went into over-drive as she thought about it carefully. It was a basic con, convincing someone that you were the missing piece of the family tree and owed inheritance of some kind. Obviously it was usually pulled simply for the pay off, but Gold had a son he hadn't not seen in years, and the emotional pay off could be just as great. Regina could be using August to play Baelfire in this nasty little game, whether to gain money or just break Gold with false hope. Either was a cruel trick and made Belle feel sick to her stomach, but what could she do to prevent it without blowing her own cover and ruining everything?

* * *

Robert Gold was out of his depth. It wasn't a feeling he was used to, especially not lately. These past few years since losing his wife and later his son, Gold put almost all his concentration into his business. He built it up from almost nothing to the all-powerful force it was now. He was the master of all he surveyed, in control, unflappable. All this were true, until Isabelle Hart stepped in through the door. Said door was quickly followed by his life, and now apparently his heart. This was the part where Gold considered himself a genuine fool.

It wouldn't be so bad if she were age appropriate, if he knew her better, if she wasn't his employee, for Heaven's sake! It would also be preferable if he wasn't in the middle of too many deals and a grudge match against Regina Mills of Regal Corp. There was way too much at stake here, not least Belle's reputation that had already taken a knock on the night of the ball. To think that after all that he had driven her home and actually considered kissing her. Gold was moments away from slamming his head against the nearest brick wall at his own stupidity just thinking about it now, more than forty eight hours later.

Monday morning meant heading to his office and working, alongside the very woman who haunted his dreams, and even filled his mind in waking hours now. Belle was beautiful, on the outside obviously, but also inside where it truly counted. She was an old soul in many ways, traditional and sweet. Somehow at the same time she was modern and forward-thinking, glad for her independence, proud of all she was and could be. Gold found her to be the greatest of enigmas and the most incredible woman he ever met in his life. Put plainly, he had fallen in love with her, and for that reason he was surely doomed.

The way she bolted when he moved to kiss her ought to prove she was disgusted by the very idea of such a thing. What a dirty old man he must seem to her now, after so many assurances that he was nothing of the kind. Gold was thoroughly ashamed of himself, and panicking just a little inside that he was about to be subjected to punishment for his minor crime. At best he expected Belle would be ignoring his work requests and sneezing in his coffee. At worst, well, he was probably looking at a sexual harassment case. Gold just had to hope Belle was actually as sensible and classy as she seemed and would accept a simple apology for his 'indiscretion' as it were.

It would help if he got the chance to say he was sorry to Belle, but as the day wore on, Gold found it more and more exasperating to try and get a quiet word with his own assistant! Ruby was on hand at all times, but Belle seemed to be forever caught up in phone calls, meetings, or out running errands. She was only at her desk and available when he was busy himself, and with her avoidance tactics she managed to avoid him completely until almost three in the afternoon. Finally it seemed he had her cornered as she returned from the office kitchen with a tray of coffees for all the girls plus his own usual cup.

"Ruby, would you mind taking Mr Gold his coffee?" she asked her colleague, only to be startled by the voice of her boss himself.

"Perhaps you could bring it in with you, Belle," he told her, as she glanced up and found him framed in the doorway, hands folded atop his cane.

She opened her mouth to make another excuse, but she already knew she couldn't do it. Ruby was getting suspicious about her avoidance of Gold, especially since she and the rest of the girls knew about their 'date' last Friday night. If she came up with another reason not to go into his office now, it would look too guilty. She was just going to have to bite the bullet it seemed.

"Yes, Mr Gold," she forced a smile, and just a soon as all the girls in the office had their drinks, she brought Gold's cup and followed him into the office.

He was the one to close the door behind her and then stayed there so she had no escape route. With other marks in past cons, Belle would have started to panic now, but Gold wasn't scary. He was in fact the complete opposite of that, and honestly, she'd like to be that much closer to him than she was now, if only it were possible. In these circumstances, it just wasn't.

"I think you and I need to have a little talk, dearie," he said, gesturing for her to sit down.

Belle declined the offer, though she did not try to leave either. In fact she nodded in agreement that they actually did need to discuss what happened. It was never going to be an easy conversation, and that were true even from Gold's point of view, in which she was exactly the person she appeared. It was doubly awkward for Belle herself - for once in her life, the grifter was struggling to keep her character in check.

"I am sorry, Mr Gold... Robert," she said awkwardly, fidgeting nervously without even thinking about it. "I know it was silly of me to run away when you took me home, I was just..."

"You have nothing to apologise for, Belle," he told her gently, looking as if he wanted to reach out to her but not daring too in the circumstances. "I was the one at fault. I'm afraid between your beauty and your kindness, I simply forgot myself."

"You flatter me, Mr Gold," she told him, ducking her face behind her hair. "I don't deserve it."

That part was at least true, Belle thought. If he only knew what she really was.

"You do," he said with a brief smile before he was serious again. "Still, that is not the point. Please say you accept my apology, Belle, and then we can go back to being friends, aye?

He was so honest and sincere, so genuinely concerned that he had offended her. It was all Belle could do not to cry, but years of experience in acting a part helped her hold it together. She forced a smile.

"Of course," she assured him. "I'd like that very much."

Saying that was ruining the con and she knew it. Gold was falling in love with her, utterly and completely, as was the plan, and now she was letting him back-pedal to 'just good friends'. She couldn't allow that to happen, and yet her own conscience forbid Belle from carrying on the charade.

"Robert, I..." she began, only to be interrupted by a tapping on the door.

As Gold was right there, he turned sharply to open it, almost causing Ruby to come stumbling in on top of him.

"Yes, Ruby?" he snapped at her, not at all happy at being interrupted.

"I'm sorry, sir, but there's a gentleman here to see you," she tried to explain as quickly as possible "He doesn't have an appointment but... Hey!"

She was suddenly gone from view and in her place a man strode right into the office, squeezing past Gold and shooting a significant glance at Belle. In that moment her blood ran cold. August was here, and any plan she might have been making before or even here and now on the fly was about to go up in smoke, she just knew it.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Gold, anger rising, as he slammed the office door shut, almost on Ruby's nose in fact!

"Well, I'm here to see you," August smiled amiably, looking towards Gold with a wide smile. "What? You don't recognise me?" he checked.

Belle watched Gold watching August and fought the urge to be sick. This was horrible and cruel, and she could just prevent it if she only opened her mouth now. Her voice just stuck in her throat, thoughts of all the horrors those she loved would endure if she broke her deal with Regina. It was all just unbearable.

"I do remember," said Gold eventually, a frown on his face as he stared hard at August's face. "You were at the ball. You danced with Miss Hart," he said, gesturing vaguely towards Belle with one hand though his eyes never left August.

"I did," the supposed stranger nodded once. "But I meant, you don't recognise me from before?" he smiled again then, as Belle grabbed the corner of the desk for support. "Of course, I have grown up quite a bit since then," August noted as he held Gold's gaze and delivered the final blow. "Don't you think so, _Papa_?"

_To Be Continued..._


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Feedback makes me so happy, especially now as we head towards the mid-point of this story... at least that's the plan! lol**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 18

Belle felt sick to her stomach. Though she had begun to feel increasingly uncomfortable in her conning of Robert Gold, today was without question the very worst day of it all. She hadn't thought anything could top the moment when she ran out on him the moment he moved in for a first kiss, but this was most definitely worse. Standing in his office now, eyes fixed on Gold, as her own ex-team-mate, August, declared he was the prodigal son returned, it was horrifying. Belle wanted nothing more than to confess the truth, or at the very least to bring comfort to the shocked man she called both boss and friend. Instead she just stood rooted to the spot, unsure what she was really supposed to say for the best.

"This is a trick," said Gold, after a good five minutes of awful silence. "You're not my son," he shook his head definitely, and yet he could see the resemblance.

Belle knew August hadn't really changed his appearance much. The stubble on his face was new, he was usually more frequent with a razor, but that would hide the features that might prove he was not Baelfire. These were the oldest tricks in the book. Bulky clothes to hide the body shape too, and he was already onto a winner with the right colour hair and eyes. It could be enough to fool a desperate man, and Belle was already certain Gold was indeed desperate to find his son. If he had a weakness at all this was it, and she knew without question why it was being exploited.

Regina didn't think Belle was getting results fast enough, but they must all realise that Gold would only buy this trick for so long. There wasn't all that much information available on Baelfire. Belle was sure she knew more than Regina or August could ever have gleaned after her long talk with Robert at the diner Friday night. August was going to slip up, and it was then that Belle realised, his getting busted was actually all part of the horrible plan.

"Papa, I can't believe you don't know me," he said in earnest, every inch the lost little boy.

He had to be doing this under duress. August wasn't a cruel man. Misguided perhaps, and yes, a criminal as Belle had been, but not this bad. Regina was working him like a puppet on strings, manipulating him with threats just the same as she was doing with Belle herself. It was sick.

"You can see why he might doubt you," she said, casting a significant look at August.

She seemed to get Gold's attention too, though she hadn't intended it. He looked almost afraid of what was happening here, more overwhelmed than Belle had ever seen him. She took pity on him, not caring what it meant for the con or the future right now. She immediately moved to his side and took hold of his arm.

"Mr Gold, would you like me to call security?" she asked him, paying no mind to August, though she knew he was staring at her now.

"What? No," he said definitely, shaking his head.

Gold's eyes looked passed her, almost through her, to stare at the man that would profess to be his son. In August he saw Baelfire, because it was what he wanted to see. Belle knew that was why it was so easy, and she hated it. She so wanted Robert to be smarter than that, but she couldn't blame him for one small piece of naivety in amongst all of his wit and intelligence.

"Robert, please," she urged him to focus on her and Belle found a small smile when he managed to do so. "I want to help you. Please, let me do that."

He nodded then, stood straight on shaky legs, leaning heavily on his cane. August looked too clever, too much like he was hiding amusement. Belle wanted to slap his face, and honestly, it wouldn't be the first time if she did. They got along well enough on the team back in the day, but he could be so infuriating sometimes. Perhaps some things just didn't change,

"Belle, go tell the ladies they can leave early… please," he added as an after-thought to what sounded vaguely like an order.

"You want me to leave too?" she asked as she headed for the door, hoping she was wrong for so many reasons that he would never understand.

"I'd rather you stayed. An objective point of view might be needed when I question this young man on his true identity," he said, eyes returning to meet August's own.

Perhaps Gold wasn't completely naive, even where his son was concerned, Belle realised. He wasn't just going to take August's word for it, even if it was clear that he was sorely tempted. Belle slipped out of the office, telling Ruby, Astrid, and Kathryn they should all head home. Of course they had questions, who this man really was and why he was here. Ruby told Belle he had given the name Wayne Wood, but somehow she didn't believe him. Belle would answer no questions, just made a big deal of ushering the other women out. She was alienating the staff she had befriended now, not just by putting herself closer to Gold but by being so evasive and secretive too. It had to be this way, both for the con and because Belle knew she was too far into falling in love with Robert to make a clean break anyway. This whole situation was far beyond the mess she always suspected it would turn into, and somehow it seemed to be getting worse with every turn.

* * *

Immediately when they reached the apartment upstairs, August had started playing games. Asking Robert how he was, if he still suffered much with his ankle, how he was finding the move from Scotland. Belle knew he hadn't hit his stride yet. Most of what he was saying were simple things that any good grifter could identify on just meeting Gold, and Belle already knew that August would have the same facts and figures that she had been given by Regina. She wondered what else he had up his sleeve for when the questions really started flying, or if the point was that he had nothing at all.

They were sat across from each other now, Robert in his arm chair, 'Baelfire' on the couch opposite. Belle hovered awkwardly a moment and then offered to go and make some tea. Her ears were good but had their limits. She could hear a conversation from the kitchen, but not much of what was actually said. This was a complete nightmare, and Belle so wanted to run. She knew she had no good choices here, that the only option left open to her was to play along with August's cruel game. Not that she could blame him, only Regina Mills was truly at fault. Belle got so frustrated in her anger towards that evil woman, she almost broke a fragile china cup in her overly tight grip. When she looked down, Belle found a small smile. This was the same cup she had dropped when she was here before and left a tiny chip in the rim. Gold hadn't cared, he had looked upon her with such kindness as she never thought to see from a man like him. That was the first moment when Belle realised he was so far removed from the monster Regina had painted, that the rumours swore existed in him. Robert Gold was very much human and she hated that her only options were to destroy him or lose everything else.

Finishing putting all the tea things together on the tray, Belle forced a deep breath through her lungs and stepped back out into the living room. The atmosphere was awkward at best and Belle felt she was only adding to it, through no fault of her own, or maybe it was all her fault in a way, she really wasn't sure anymore. Concentrating on pouring the tea seemed sensible enough and crouched on the floor seemed the only place to do it. Her other options were on the couch with August or on the arm of Gold's chair, neither of which seemed appropriate at all. She knew both men were watching her to save from having to look at each other. The tension was just awful.

"Sugar?" she asked August without saying any name at all.

"No, thanks," he shook his head and smiled. "I'm already sweet enough... as Mother used to say."

Belle winced at that. She knew he had been watching Gold out of the corner of his eye whilst he said it, noticed some near-imperceptible twitch or intake of breath of recognition at the phrase. It was common enough, but his reaction meant August could play on it and assume it was something Gold's late wife used to say. A little more evidence for the pot. Belle cleared her throat and bit down a comment, handing a cup to August and then another to Gold.

"Thank you, dear," he said, meeting her eyes.

Belle had a feeling he meant for far more than just the tea. Just for being here, she supposed, when he needed a friend. Some friend she was, but he could have no idea about that right now.

"So, you've been gone from Mr Gold's life some time," said Belle without a care, knowing it was not her place to speak and yet unable to help herself. "If you are who you say."

She stood by Gold's chair now, leaning on the back a little. Belle knew she was coming off like his guard dog or keeper but she couldn't care. She was going to have this cruel trick over with as quickly as possible. Towering over August like this wouldn't phase him, not for a second, but she would use every weapon in her arsenal to protect Gold's heart right now.

"Belle, it's really not Bae's fault," he told her softly. "I don't blame him for leaving. I was not the father I should've been."

"I don't suppose I was the ideal son either," said August, staring into his tea as he placed the cup down on the table. "It was wrong of me to run away, Papa, but I so wanted to see the world. Can you understand that?"

He looked so earnest, so twisted up with pain and sorrow. Belle had to hand it to the guy, it was an Oscar worthy performance, and it certainly wasn't Gold's fault he was falling for it. Still, there was no hard evidence that this man was his son, for the very simple reason that he wasn't!

"Any man could say these things," she cut in before Gold could say a word. "You've given no proof that you are who you say you are!"

"Belle!" Gold's tone was admonishing when he spoke her name, but August only smiled.

"No, Papa, she's right," he shook his head. "She's just trying to look out for you, and I appreciate that somebody is here to do that, after the way I abandoned you..." he said, looking sad. "I hope you can forgive me, and that this is some proof of who I am," he continued, fumbling in an inside pocket of his leather jacket.

A moment later he was handing a locket to Gold, whose eyes narrowed at the sight of it and Belle's followed suit. It meant something, she could tell by the hitch of Gold's breath in his throat and the way his hands shook as he opened up the locket to reveal pictures inside. One was of a woman, the other a child. If she had to guess, Belle would certainly say she was looking down into the young faces of Milah and Baelfire.

"Oh, my boy," gasped Gold as he looked from the pictures to August. "You truly have come back to me."

He was up out of the chair so fast, Belle was amazed by how easily he did it given the state of his ankle and all. She watched as Gold embraced 'Baelfire' and called him his darling boy, feeling sick when August met her eyes over Robert's shoulder. She didn't know where he got the locket or the pictures, how he had managed to dupe Gold so thoroughly. She had no defence now, no way to try and prove August was anyone but Baelfire, unless she revealed the whole truth about herself as well.

It was a risk Belle could not take, and she knew it. To reveal all was to put those dearest to her in danger - her own father, Mary, David, baby Emma - and anyone Regina had threatened in order to drag August into this too. On top of that, she would blow the con from all angles, losing the one chance she might have to bring Ms Mills house of cards down around her own ears. Worst of all, Robert Gold would look upon her with absolute hatred, pure disdain. She would lose his trust and ever-building love, and at this point, that might just break Belle's own heart completely into pieces. She was stuck with no way out, it seemed, and she hated it.

_To Be Continued..._


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: I keep dropping the ball on this fic lately. So sorry, reader peops! I will try to update more often from now on :)**

_**(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)**_

Chapter 19

Belle had been hoping this whole time that Gold would leave the room eventually. He and 'Baelfire'got talking about old times, and it hadn't taken much for her to convince him he should go find the photo albums and show her how things had been back then. Just as soon as Belle was sure he was out of ear-shot, she sat down beside August and her eyes turned cold as steel.

"What are you doing?!" she asked in a harsh whisper, mindful of shouting and being overheard.

"Same thing you are, only better?" August smirked annoyingly as he leaned back against the couch cushions with his hands behind his head. "What's so wrong, Belle? I'm playing a part just the same as you. Part of the job."

"You're being cruel!" she snapped at him, eliciting a laugh she didn't much care for.

"And you're, what? Genuine in your affection for the old guy?" he asked incredulously. "No, you're working for Regina, just like me," August stated what he already knew to be true. "She threatened you, she threatened me, and that's why we're both here."

There was a flicker of something genuine in August's eyes when he met Belle's gaze then. She knew why he was doing this, and it wasn't really his fault. If Regina had got to him, and he had just confirmed that was true, Belle knew exactly who she was threatening to exploit. August was such a loner, even more so than Belle had ever been, but he loved his father, more than anything in the whole world.

"She knows about Marco," she said, a statement not a question. "That's what she's holding over you. Your father's life."

"He's an old man now," August sighed and shook his head. "If she so much as told him how I've been living my life... it would kill him. I genuinely believe that it would."

Belle swallowed hard, trying not to let his words get to her. Unfortunately, it was too late. This kind of talk, it made her think of her own Papa. How fragile he had been when she last saw him, how he had reacted to what her life had become. Now they were better, her and August both, or they had been for a while. Taking down rich and powerful bad guys, playing Robin Hood for those that couldn't help themselves. These were things to be proud of, Belle thought, righting the wrongs she had done in the past perhaps. Now her eyes drifted to the door through which Gold had just passed. This man may be powerful but he wasn't wholly bad. There was good in him, so much more than she ever could've imagined, and it hurt so much to know what she and August were doing to him.

"This is wrong," she said aloud, not particularly to August or even to herself, and yet her old team-mate replied.

"Wrong?" he echoed. "Belle, you're not...?"

His question went unasked and yet not unanswered. She looked back at him, and as their eyes met he saw the truth of this situation. Suddenly August knew what Belle was trying so hard to hide, even from herself. Her true feelings for Gold ran deep, though he couldn't imagine why. Clearly he wasn't the monster Regina painted, or dear little Belle never would've fallen.

"Here we are," said Gold himself as he returned to the room, an album of pictures under his arm.

August was still staring at Belle for a moment, but quickly regained focus with a smile on his lips. He didn't really know what to do with the shock he felt at his old friend's revelation, but he had to cover it and move on. Regardless of Belle's feelings for Gold, or even his for her, August was here with one task to complete. If he didn't follow through... well, he just had to. He meant what he said to Belle about his real father. His doing Regina's bidding was purely to keep Marco safe, she had to understand that. They were both protecting somebody, but at the same time destroying another.

Belle did know why she had to let this go, why she had no way out of her current situation. As if realising she was in love with the mark wasn't bad enough. Now she knew August was playing him and that whether she let him continue or not, Regina's plan could not fail. If today ended with Robert still believing that August was Baelfire, then the leverage belonged with his fake son. If the truth came out, and August was sent away, Belle would be there for the man she loved, and Regina knew it, even if the evil bitch did believe said love was entirely fake.

Unable to stand it a moment longer, Belle swept out of the room a moment after Gold returned. She could not bare to just sit there are listen as August began talking to his 'Papa' about all the precious years they'd wasted. Belle took the tea tray with her as she hurried off to the kitchen, hoping to compose herself as she cleaned the cups and refilled the pot. The last thing she ever expected was for Gold to follow her.

"Belle?" he spoke her name and actually made her jump.

She turned sharply to glance at him, cursing the lone tear that streaked down her cheek. Belle hadn't meant to cry, she truly hadn't, but all the talk of family was enough to upset her. That coupled with knowing the awful pain she and August couldn't help but cause here, it was too much, even for a seasoned grifter like herself.

"Robert, I'm so sorry," she apologised, quickly wiping her face and turning back to her tea making.

The surprise of his presence so suddenly close behind her made Belle's hands freeze on the cups. There was such a confused mess of feelings inside of her right now. She yearned to tell him everything, to confess both her ever-building love for him and the truth of her mission here, even though she knew the outcome of such a thing would be catastrophic. At the same time, she just wanted to hold onto him, and be held. To feel strong arms around her and his lips upon hers, as she had conjured in her dreams too many times. She was such a fool.

"Belle, please," he said, his voice low and quiet as his hand landed on her arms. "Talk to me, dear. You're not yourself..."

"I am more worried about _him _not being himself!" she all but exploded as she turned quickly to face him, dropping her voice to a more reasonable level the moment she realised how much she had startled him. "I'm sorry, Robert, I know you believe that man is your son, because you want to believe he came back to you, but are you really so sure?"

"He has the locket," he told her with a slight frown.

Belle had to wonder if his confusion was really because of her disbelief, or because he was already starting to wonder at his own naiveté.

"What does the locket really prove?" she asked, trying to make him see the truth, even if she knew it would do no real good. "There are people that do this kind of thing. Lie and cheat their way into people's lives, like emotional blackmail," she explained. "You're a rich man, Robert. Powerful and well-known enough. I just... I don't want to see you taken advantage of."

Belle wasn't sure what to think about the way he was looking at her now. It was a dangerous path she was walking, telling him about grifters and thieves just like herself. Still, Robert could surely not suspect her, only August, as she suggested to him. It did no good in the long run, but standing by and watching him be deceived by her old friend was causing physical pain in Belle's heart. If she could at least minimise his suffering, end this awful charade before they all got in any deeper, that was a small comfort to her battered conscience.

"You know a lot about this kind of thing, Belle," said Robert, that intense look he got in his eyes sometimes radiating full force as he stared at her.

"I read the newspapers, watch TV," she shrugged, holding his gaze with determination. "These kinds of things happen all the time. Unsuspecting rich men, and women too, falling prey to thieves. You wouldn't be the first victim of this kind of scam."

Robert kept staring her way a while longer, before glancing over his shoulder back into the room where August waited. He knew she was right, of course he knew. Robert Gold was a learned man, and he was well aware that his fame and fortune made him prey for these kinds of people. He never had been duped before, always staying one step ahead of such games, especially where that ghastly Regina Mills was concerned. The one thing guaranteed to turn his head and make him trust without evidence was the return of his beloved son. Maybe he had been blinded by a fake Baelfire, and yet believing that meant the boy-turned-man was still so very far away from his grasp.

"For once in my life, I'm afraid I'm not sure what to do for the best," he admitted to Belle, feeling almost stupid for even saying it.

She hated how vulnerable he looked, how confused he must feel. Belle only wanted to make this easier on a man she knew by now she loved, despite how ridiculous the very fact had to be. The only thing to do was to get August out of here as fast as possible, to have the truth reveal itself without her actually having to admit anything.

"Ask him something only Baelfire would know," she advised in a soft tone. "Something that can't have been researched or learnt from records, a personal thing from your shared past, then you'll know for sure," she shrugged.

A smile came to Gold's lips then, a real genuine look, the like of which he hardly ever wore, save for when he looked at her this way. It gave Belle the shakes in a way she couldn't dislike at all, even if it did make her guilt double every second.

"Aye, I believe that is exactly what I shall do," he said eventually, reaching out as if to touch her face but letting his hand fall before he ever made contact. "You're a good girl, Belle," he told her, at which her head ducked instinctively.

"No, I'm not," she immediately argued, though he took her words entirely the wrong way.

"A good woman then," he amended, daring to raise her chin with his finger. "I'm sorry, I meant no harm," he assured her as she stared at him with those big blue eyes a man could drown in and such a sad sort of an expression, it was enough to break his cold heart.

She was indeed a good woman, he thought, far too good for the likes of him, so much more than he could ever deserve. At the same time, Belle was wondering at how he could look upon her like this and not see the truth. A part of her almost wished he would.

"Thank you," she said softly. "But you know I don't deserve your compliments," she shook her head, deliberately moving away from his touch and then a step back out of reach completely. "You've been so good to me, much more than I deserve. What can I do but try to repay the kindness."

Belle found her voice was wobbling before she had hardly finished speaking. He made her lose control of her emotions, she had known it from the night of the ball, and now it could only get worse. She had admitted to herself that she loved Gold, and there was no turning back from that. Belle thought she could cope, at least for now, but when August showed up and she realised how ugly things were going to be, even then she held it together. If Robert was going to stand there looking at her as if she were precious, praising her like an angel come to save him, she was never going to be able to survive. The tears building in her eyes again forced her to turn her back on him, but it was too late. He already knew she was crying, and it broke his heart too.

"Please, Belle. Don't upset yourself, dearie," he said, his hand barely grazing her arm before she was facing him again, with as much composure as she could muster in such a moment. "Come now," he urged her. "Let's try a little test on my potential only son, shall we?" he smiled.

She knew he was trying to be as brave as he looked, but it wasn't quite coming off. That worked for Belle, since she wasn't feeling half so composed as she seemed either. It was strange to think that in the living room which contained three people again now, the only innocent man was the one suspected by most to be evil. Oh how wrong they had been about Robert Gold.

Belle sat down primly on the end of the couch, as far from 'Baelfire' as she could ever be, whilst Robert returned to his chair. August had the photo album on his lap, flipping pages and smiling.

"Look, Papa," he grinned. "I'd almost forgotten about that horse you bought me. Good old Samson," he sighed happily at the memory.

Belle was unimpressed. It wasn't as if he knew the horses name himself, he had simply read the line in Gold's flowing hand from beneath the photograph. Still, it seemed he may have given his 'father' the perfect in, since Robert was smiling just as widely.

"Aye, he was a good horse, indeed," he nodded along. "Of course, we were quite ready to send him to the glue factory when he threw you over a fence that day," he said, complete with some random flick of his hands to demonstrate the way Bae must've gone flying. "Tell me, son, does your knee still bother you?" he asked, leaning forward with his elbows on his own knees.

Belle looked between Gold and August, wondering where this was going. In her own mind she wondered at the question. Personally she would have made August recount the event of being thrown off the horse as he remembered it, since surely any inaccuracies would be clear. At the same time, she knew six different ways to get around the question herself if she were asked it, and August would too. As it was he had been given an easy out and he took it.

"It's not so bad," he said, running his left hand distinctly over both joints, since he clearly didn't know which was supposed to hurt.

"Good, good," Gold nodded along, though there was a hint of the smirk creeping into the previously benevolent smile, the look he only wore when he was working an angle - Belle didn't mind seeing it in this moment. "I suppose you were lucky in a way. Could've been much worse. Honestly, Belle, I never believed a boy could fly until I saw Bae come off that horse."

"It was quite the tumble I took," August told her. "Of course, I don't remember much of it. I suppose it was shock or maybe I blacked out for a while there."

"Were you badly hurt?" asked Belle, wondering if she knew where this was going, hoping she was helping rather than hindering.

The slightest nod from Gold seemed to prove it was the former rather than the latter. August smiled too widely, looked from Belle to Gold. His mind was working over-time, she could see it. If he screwed up now, saying he had some wound that never existed, or missing something important., it was all over. He used the information he already had and ran with it.

"Well, my knee was the worst," he told her, eyes flitting to Gold for only a brief second. "I know I said it's not so bad, but once in a while it'll flare up. Getting that injury did nothing for my love of horses."

Belle smiled along politely but the second August glanced back at the album, she looked to Gold for a reaction. His face was becoming increasingly red, and she was sure she never saw him rise from a chair so fast, with the possible exception of when August 'proved' he was Baelfire earlier. Now he knew it was lies. This part of the conversation had been set up from the start and she realised it now as Gold towered over August, cane raised as if he might strike him.

"Get out of my building," he said in such a low voice, Belle was sure he was going to explode any moment.

"Papa?" said August, one last vain hope to look and sound like the lost little boy that Gold loved most - it didn't work.

"I said get out!" Robert exploded as Belle had suspected he might and she scrambled to her feet more on instinct than anything else. "You are not my son! You are a filthy, cheating liar! Get out!"

August knew the game was up and did not exactly want the cops called, or worse, bruises from cane strikes across his back. He dropped the album on the table and bolted for the door, though before he made it, Gold had threatened so many awful things, Belle was shocked. This was the first time she had seen him so angry and upset, and it brought home to her just how bad things could be if he ever found out she was playing him too. She felt sick all over again, and then doubly so, as the door slammed shut behind August and Robert's tears broke free.

The anger he had let rip dissolved into great heaving sobs, and Belle could think of nothing to do but grab onto him and let him cry on her shoulder. She was all but supporting his entire weight as he cried like his heart was breaking. It probably was, and there was so very little she could say to make it better. It was a cruel and heartless trick that Regina had pulled here today, and that woman must take all the blame. August went along with this because he felt he had to, to protect those he loved most. That was why Belle was here too, though it was becoming increasingly difficult to convince herself she was doing the right thing, as Gold's tears soaked through the shoulder of her dress, and still she held on tight to him. What else could she do?

_To Be Continued..._


End file.
